


As We Are

by alex4968



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bonding, Fluff, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mpreg, alpha!Harry, omega!Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 08:12:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8482072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex4968/pseuds/alex4968
Summary: Louis doesn't think much when he's asked to meet up with the alpha of the pack two hours from his own - he figures it's business as usual. But Harry Styles is anything but usual.





	

**Author's Note:**

> What a ride this was! I fell in love with this fic from the moment I started writing it and I hope you all will enjoy it as much as I have!

** Before **

Louis is bored.

Terminally, entirely, _wholly_ bored.

His mum has kept him stern under lock and key since he (shamelessly) helped Lottie sneak out to meet her charming alpha boyfriend – but, see, he’s a firm believer in love knowing no boundaries. Those boundaries including their pointlessly stern nine o’clock sharp curfew. Plus, he likes to consider himself a trustworthy enough big brother for his sisters to be able to run to when they need help. So, really, he doesn’t see anything wrong with what he did. Even if his mum thinks it was reckless and ‘could have ended badly’. But it didn’t.

So.

He’s spent the last week holed up in his bedroom, only really emerging at meal times with the hope that if he doesn’t annoy his parents any further that he’ll be let off of house arrest sooner rather than later. In the off times when he would normally be out on the town with his friends, he’s stuck in his room. He’s resorted to throwing a ball up and down while laid out on his bed and – it’s really tragic. Louis has never been the type of person to enjoy being inside for too long.

If sweetening his parents up doesn’t work soon, he’s quite sure he might _actually_ lose his mind.

It doesn’t seem like it’s going to work, not yet at least, but he’s happy to try. If the suspicious looks his mum keeps shooting at him when she catches him doing the laundry or emptying the rubbish bins without being told are any hint that he’s about to get his freedom back, he can continue to sacrifice his dignity for a while longer.

The only thing is that his parents are entirely mysterious and unwavering in their ways of being secretive about when his punishments are going to end. Perhaps it’s something they’ve learned over the nineteen years he’s lived with them (maybe because a few times they’d told him two weeks and he’d only been good for those two weeks) – but it _really_ isn’t his fault he has a mischievous heart.

That’s what he keeps telling himself, that is.

“Lottie!” He calls out from his bed, tossing the ball particularly hard and watching as it hits the ceiling before crashing back down to the foot of his bed. He sighs softly and tosses an arm over his eyes. It’s dark in his room other than the glow from his bedside lamp and briefly the hallway light as Lottie walks in, and then dark again when she closes the door behind her.

They’re supposed to be separated, in case Louis attempts to help her _conspire._ But whatever. He can talk to his sister all he wants. “You look like shit.” Lottie says and Louis rolls his eyes.

“Mum would have a cow if she heard you talking like that.”

“Mum’s already had like, six cows this week because of stuff I’ve done. What’s one more?” She grinned and Louis laughed, patting the bed beside him and scooting over for her to lay with him.

“I’m so tired of being stuck in the house. I think this is the first time in my life I’ve ever missed school.”

“It’ll end eventually. I think mum and dad are a little happier now, since they met Austin. But I’m not sure. They seemed to like him enough.”

“Mum actually _liked_ an alpha?” His eyebrows shot up. Their parents had managed to earn a slight track record with not liking any of their alpha significant others. Lottie was a beta, so they weren’t as terrible with her, even if their mum still tossed a fit each time, but when alphas came anywhere _near_ Louis, well. They weren’t ever really happy about it.

“Right? He’s really traditional, though, Lou. I like him so much.”

“You’re still young, Lots. No need to rush into anything, yeah?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not like – gonna bond him or anything.”

“I’d sure hope not!” He says, that big-brother part of him taking over. Even if he was an omega, he was happy enough to know that Lottie still came to him for advice. “When can I meet him?”

“Probably when you’re free from mum’s wrath.”

“oi, I might be gray.”

“You’re getting there already, Lou. Not much longer now.” Louis smacked her softly and she laughed. “Is it okay if I sleep in here tonight, though? I wanted to come ask but I thought you were sleeping.”

“Course, Lots.” She got up and grabbed her usual sleeping-in-Louis’-bed-blanket and crawled back in bed with it wrapped around her. “Did you have another dark dream?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s all good.” She said, and Louis knew she was trying to pretend like it didn’t bother her, but he knew better than anyone else about how much it really did bother her. She’d been having these terrible nightmares ever since they were kids, but Louis didn’t judge her like others seemed to. He knew they were still just ask scary even if it was years later.

It wasn’t as late as Louis would normally fall asleep, just barely half ten, but when he listened to Lottie’s breathing even out beside him, he decided to flick the light off, too.

If he saw their mum walk in a while later and pretended to be asleep, no one had to know. “Those kids are attached at the hip, I swear.” She whispered, a soft sigh. “Night, loves.” And Louis smiled as she closed the door and he heard the familiar squeak of her bedroom door closing too.

 

Five more days pass and Louis has actually started to find _enjoyment_ in doing the laundry, so it’s obvious he’s started to lose his mind. He was folding up the t-shirts, enjoying the warmth from the dryer when his father came up behind him.

“Hey dad, what’s up?” He asked, turning to face him and abandoning his laundry.

“Your mother and I want to talk to you about getting you off grounding when you’re finished. Just hang all of the shirts up and put everything in it’s place and meet us in the kitchen.” Louis grinned and nodded.

“Alright. Will do.” He knew if he slacked on his folding and didn’t do as well as he had been doing, he’d just have to do it again later, so he kept taking his time, even if he was vibrating beneath his skin. He heard his father’s footsteps going back up the stairs and he finally did a little dance, happy to even have a chance to be able to leave the house. There was so much he hadn’t realized he’d miss about being able to go outside until it had been taken away.

Well, maybe he was just being overdramatic. But that was one of his fortes.

So when he finished folding up the shirts, he went to each of the bedrooms that the clothes needed to be put in and put them in their places. Finally, about twenty minutes after his father had talked to him, he was walking into the kitchen.

His phone was sat on the table in front of his mother, and the two of them were chatting away before they noticed he walked in.

“Alright, Lou, we’ve decided you’ve been grounded long enough.” His mum said and he was smiling again. “But, there’s one condition if we are to let you free.”

“Do tell.” He said, moving to sit in one of the empty chairs at the dining table.

“You’re going to get a job. Specifically, a job your father has lined up for you.” His eyebrows shot up. It wasn’t really – _impossible_ for omegas to get jobs – but it wasn’t really common. Plenty of places hired omegas. Well, every place hired omegas, technically, since there were laws in place that said there couldn’t be gender discrimination, but not many paid well.

“What is it?”

“You’re going to be an assistant for a friend of mine. Liam Payne. He’s a pack relations representative, you know, keeping the packs from fighting and such, and he’s offered you a full-time spot with him in his office. I said you’d take it.” Louis blinked. It didn’t sound like it would be too terrible. If he was just an assistant, that is. Assistants only fetched coffee and lunch, right? If this was an alpha that his parents were going to trust him enough to be around full-time, well, he wasn’t going to deny his freedom just because he was slightly unsettled by not knowing what the job would entail.

“Alright. When do I start?”

Besides, their pack was almost entirely calm and friendly with the surrounding packs. Their pack alpha, Yaser Malik, usually kept everything peaceful. His dad had told him once that there wasn’t a single issue with their pack and another since his grandfather was a teenager. So. What could possibly go wrong?

“Tomorrow. Monday morning, bright and early at eight a.m.” He sighed softly but smiled none the less. It was better than being grounded. At least this way he could leave the house.

“Does this mean I get my phone back?”

“For now, yes.” His mother said.

“But the second I hear you’re late or get written up or make any kind of mistake with Mr.Payne, I’ll toss it out the window.” He frowned. When he was seventeen, he’d challenged that his father would actually do something so life-shattering. So, to prove a point, he’d done it. Tossed it right out his bedroom window and made him clean up the broken glass and shattered metal with a broom and dustpan. So, he firmly believed his father wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again.

“All right. I won’t mess up, then.”

“That’s a boy.” Then his phone was back in his hand and he smiled.

“Thanks, dad.”

“Dinner will be ready in about an hour.” His mother said and he knew a dismissal as well as anyone, so he nodded before he was up the stairs and back in his room.

He unlocked his phone to find – no missed calls. There was one text from Niall, but all it said was, “u left ur jaket here lol” and there was nothing else. Of course he’d be one to miss his friends terribly but none of them would even send a text when he went MIA for two and a half weeks.

Whatever.

 

He spent most of that night googling Liam Payne. Apparently he lived with the Maliks in the pack house, since he’d bonded with _the_ omega son Zayn. It wasn’t all that interesting – besides the fact that it was slightly relieving to know the alpha he’d be working for was bonded – but he still hadn’t found anything about what his job would have entailed.

It did nothing to settle his nerves, but it also didn’t make him feel _worse_ so to say, so he thought that he could consider it progress if he really wanted to. There was nothing wrong with being a little nervous right before a job was supposed to start. Right?

 

“You’re gonna do great, love.” His mum says and wraps him in a tight hug. She’s an omega, too, so he assumes she can sense how nervous he is. Or if she can’t, then she can probably assume. Even if she doesn’t have to work now – he knows she did when she was younger, before she was mated and before she had a family. “It won’t be too bad, yeah?” He nods and returns the hug, sighing softly.

“See you tonight, then.”

“See you tonight, love.” He’s out the door by the time she finishes speaking. He’s happy to be outside again, and with every intention of enjoying being out of the house, he decided to walk to work.

His pack certainly isn’t small, but it isn’t really that large, either. There are about five thousand of them here – enough to have a pretty large standing amongst other packs and enough to be able to have a fairly isolated little life, but he’s not ignorant to the fact that they still have to have good relationships between the other packs.

That’s where Liam Payne comes in to the game. He has to help keep the pack’s image pristine. Zayn’s father, their pack alpha, does a good job of keeping them all together and well handled, and he can imagine that this job shouldn’t be that hard.

His mouth still gets dry when he walks to the town square and the address he’s been given is to the biggest building in the square. Three stories high and intimidating.

Louis walks into the building and adjusts his tie. His mouth is dry – and he’s just noticed for the second time, but it’s too late to go back and do anything about it now. Maybe he’ll find some water later – or something – but he’s just nervous. His entire body has a tendency to react when he gets too nervous.

“Hi, um. Louis Tomlinson, I’m here for Mr.Payne –“ He says to the secretary at the front desk. She’s pretty and smells like a beta, but she quirks an eyebrow at him. He imagines she can sense his nerves, because he can tell he smells like a nervous puppy, but he doesn’t want to look that way. So he tries to seem confident, holds himself high enough that it feels unnatural and doesn’t even let himself look at the ground once.

“He’s on the third floor.” She points to the set of lifts down the hallway and he gives a nod in thanks before scurrying over to get on a lift and make his way to meet with Mr.Payne. Theres something nerve wracking about meeting an alpha that’s so close knit with the pack leader, but he can just hope that he’s not smug about it.

The lift smells slightly of strong coffee, and he leans back against the railing to take a few deep breaths. It’s not that he’s really terrified, but, he’s not exactly comfortable either. He’s out of his realm. His parents had always kept him fairly sheltered, always away from unfamiliar alphas and unfamiliar people in general.

Now it feels like he’s being thrown to the wolves, quite literally.

The lift dings open and he still feels a bit unsettled but he walks out and makes sure he doesn’t look it. “Mr.Tomlinson!” A loud, obviously alpha voice says from a bit of a ways outside the lift.

“Uh –“ He stutters and looks to the man, taller, well-built and so obviously alpha that it makes him feel unwell. He’s suddenly much happier that this man is mated because he matches the stereotypical alpha that Louis day-dreams of quite frequently. “Mr.Payne?”

“Yep, that’s me. I’m glad you’re a bit early, I’ll show you around a bit.” He nods, a weak gesture of his understanding before he’s following the alpha about. “Alright, so this is my office. The door’s almost always open, but if it ever isn’t just knock and wait until I say you can come in to enter, please. This will be your desk, mostly all I’ll have you do is take my calls I forward to you and write down any messages. Right over here is the meeting room, where I’ll have you directing any clients who come into the office for any meetings. That’s a pretty rare occurrence, since I usually go out and meet with them, but it may happen.”

“Alright. Anything else?”

“Not that I can really think of. Friday is the only day that we don’t all dress formal, you can wear jeans or whatever makes you comfortable unless a client is coming in.” Louis nodded.

“That’s cool, yeah. Sounds good. Thanks for showing me around.” He smiled softly and Liam gave him a bright smile in return.

“My door to my office is just about always open, so as long as it is, feel free to come in if you have any questions or anything. If it’s closed, though, I do ask you let me have my privacy until it’s open again.

“Yes, sir. Of course.”

“If you’d be so kind, though, would you bring me some tea?”

“Sure. How do you take it?”

“Just milk for me.” If Louis respected him a little more for that, well, he wasn’t going to say that. So he just went off to the employee lounge (after he had to ask three – yes _three)_ people where it was, and made up both Liam and himself a cuppa, delivering Liam’s to his desk and sitting at his own.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he was expected to do, as an assistant, since he hadn’t been told to like _assist_ anything – so he just sat there for a while. He checked his emails and nothing was really new, mostly just spam, so he was bored almost all day.

There wasn’t a single phone call to his desk, so after a while he wound up just playing mines on his computer until he lost about a dozen times.

“Can I do anything for you, Mr.Payne?” He asked from the doorway of his office around eleven – hoping that after three hours of doing _nothing_ Liam would have something for him.

“Not right now. I’ll have something for you when you get back from lunch, though. So feel free to take that now, and I’ll see you around noon.”

“All right.” He said with a smile and grabbed his bag from beneath his desk.

He ran into the receptionist from earlier again and she was smiling, now, instead of looking skeptical. “Hi!” She said softly. “You on lunch?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Yeah. You want to come down to the place down the road with me and a couple others?”

“Sure! Sounds better than just spending an hour by myself.” So they went out and spent their lunch hour laughing and talking and getting to know each other. Louis hoped he could be friends with these people eventually. If this job was going to be as boring as it already felt like it was going to be, then he needed something to keep himself entertained. It was kind of a shame that he was already dreading going to work the next day when his first day wasn’t even done yet.

But.

Work isn’t really meant to be enjoyable, he assumes. At least not in his case. He had a place at university in London, where he was hoping he was going to study drama, but he really didn’t want to leave his pack. So. That was another reason he assumed work wasn’t meant to be fun. He wasn’t doing something he particularly cared about or was even really interested in, so that would probably keep it from ever being really _fun._

When he returned from lunch, Liam let him address 112 letters. His hand was cramped up by the time it was done, but after that he was free and allowed to go home. So. That made it a little better.

Lou waved to him on his way out and Ed – the budget guy and one of the people he’d had lunch with – did, too. So maybe he had successfully managed to do _something_ at work that day. Even if it wasn’t particularly productive to work itself.

 

“It’s _boring.”_ Louis said, groaning. He’d missed Niall – missed their times when they could just sit in his basement and light up a blunt and complain and whine and moan and play video games. Niall was an omega, too, but his parents weren’t forcing him to work. It wasn’t abnormal in their pack for Omegas to stay unemployed, but it also wasn’t abnormal for them to work, either. He’d done some statistics of it in one of his year twelve maths classes and it was about a 50/50 split between the omega lifestyles in their pack.

There was nothing wrong with it, Louis thought. He kind of liked the idea that he might get to have that decision one day, when he gets mated. If he were to go off with an alpha that had a little bit of money and a nice job, he could stay at home and just take care of his one-day pups. But if he fell in love with someone who didn’t have all of that, well, he wouldn’t really mind working either. The omega rights here were great, so he wouldn’t ever really be miserable.

Plus, he would get three days off every month no matter what, so. He didn’t really have much to complain about.

Niall took a long hit and passed the splif back over to Louis. “I’m sure it is, man. You’re like. A glorified tea maker. I can’t imagine that being fun. But aren’t you making like, eighteen quid an hour?”

“Yeah. But – “

“There are no buts, there, mate. You’re buying the next round, too, bastard.”

“Yeah, yeah. Love you too, Ni.” So they smoked the rest of the night and played a bit of FIFA. Louis won almost every game, but there was nothing wrong with that and Niall didn’t even bother to complain anymore. It was just how they were. How they operated. How they managed to make their friendship work. With shitty weed and even shittier conversation. But Niall seemed to understand him in a way only omegas ever really seemed to be able to understand each other. So he let himself appreciate that little fact and always relied on Niall somewhat like a brother.

 

Liam actually let him sit in on a few meetings which, wow. It made him feel important and needed and _informed_ when he was able to learn about the things that were going on between the packs and how they negotiated trade and lifestyle and treaties and people and everything. His job was always just to take notes for Liam to look back on later and probably show Yaser, but it still made him feel beyond important when he was able to listen in.  
After he’d gone to about a dozen of those meetings, he’d been working for Liam for almost five months. Liam had even started asking his input on certain topics and actually seemed to care about what he thought and Louis was finally starting to feel like something more than a _glorified tea maker._

“What do you think, Louis?” Liam asked – in the _middle of a meeting!_ He’d never asked him his opinion in the middle of a meeting before. He’d only ever done it afterwards, when it didn’t matter as much. “I like to have an omega’s perspective on many of my issues at hand, since we perceive things that happen within the pack differently.” Liam said to the alpha sat across from him, who had her eyebrows furrowed now.

They were talking about accommodations for families and if their pack would be willing to give them money to help better suit them. The woman – Mrs.Swift – was the alpha for her pack. They were a small pack – only 1,900 members – so they had to go to some of the slightly larger packs and ask for money for certain things. But going to the very large packs would likely only make them look weak, that was one thing Louis had learned.

“I think it’s important to have proper accommodation for both families and individuals alike.” He said, trying not to let his voice waver. It didn’t. “Families have a tendency to be more – open, so perhaps a kind of… community, built within the pack for families specifically could accommodate both having children have access to proper schooling without too much travel and the ability to be with each other. But individuals, with the presence of heat and rut for alphas and omegas, should be able to consider themselves safe for when those things come.” Mrs. Swift actually gave a small smile.

“Thank you, Louis. That’s actually very wise.” He smiled. Liam took over from there, expanding on _his_ ideas.

He preened.

 

The meetings actually continued like that. Louis was asked for his input regularly. “You know, you’re worth a lot more than an assistant to me, Louis.” Liam said to him with a hand on his shoulder before he left Friday night.

“Thank you, Mr.Payne.” He said with a smile.

“I think you’d do well in this field if you perused it. So, if you’re ever interested, feel free to ask me any questions you have, alright?”

 _Well_ Louis wasn’t going to turn an oprotunity like that down. It was one of the best paying jobs in the pack, to be an advisor. He knew some alphas would get irritated by the fact that he could be earning more money than them, but he wasn’t going to let that bother him. If he didn’t have to leave the pack to become something successful, then he was going to take every chance he could get.

“I will, Mr.Payne. Thank you.”

 

He spent the weekend watching his younger siblings. His house was almost always bustling with life – because with seven kids filling a five bedroom house, well, it could get rather obnoxious at times. But Louis had never minded that. He loved kids, loved the life that came out of having kids around. He couldn’t wait to have kids of his own one day.

Saturday passes, then Sunday, and before he really had a chance to do anything other than sit at home and eat an entire package of crisps, he’s waking up to his alarm clock on Monday morning. He groans softly and silences it – rolls over in bed and waits for the noise to startle him awake again five minutes later.

But then another noise comes from his phone that isn’t his alarm tone and he grabs it with a sigh. It’s Liam. He groans and clears his throat, hoping to sound a bit more awake.

“Hello?” He asks when he hits accept call.

“Louis – “ Liam sounds frantic, like he’s running around. He can hear papers shuffling and commotion in the background. He’s suddenly much more awake. “Hi, goodmorning. I’m sorry for calling you so early.”

“It’s alright, sir. Do you… is everything okay?” He isn’t sure if that’s crossing a professional boundary, to ask how Liam is doing in his personal life. But Liam, honestly, sounds like he’s about to melt down. So. Louis doesn’t really care. He’s grown quite fond of his boss over the last five and a half months and he isn’t entirely willing to watch him break down.

“Okay well – Okay. So. I have a bit of a problem. You know that – _really_ important client I’ve been telling you about for like, three months?”

“The Styles Alpha?”

“Yeah, him. Well. He’s coming today. Well, I’m supposed to go to him. But.” Liam pauses. “Look, this is. Christ this is awkward. Zayn’s gone into heat. It’s like – it was _not_ supposed to come for at least three more weeks and I planned around that but I can’t – leave him.”

“That’s – of course. I understand. Would you… do you need me to call Alpha Styles and ask if we can reschedule his meeting time?”

“No! No, we can’t. Okay. The thing is, he’s already here. Arrived last night and is staying at the inn. It’s – we obviously can’t reschedule at this point.” Louis ignores the pained shout of Liam’s name in the background when Liam’s voice goes silent. He feels bad for Zayn.

“Okay…. So… I’m sorry, I don’t really understand what you’re asking here, sir.”

“Louis, I’ve seen how talented you are with negotiating deals and compromises with other packs. So. I need you to take my place.” Louis’ eyes widen, and he suddenly feels a panicky tightness in his chest. “Look – I know, this is like – crazy to ask. But I know you can do it, okay? Just tell them I’ll be back within ten days and I can email you notes and anything you might need to do the best job you can do. But I need you to do this for me, alright?”

“I’m –“ Louis pauses and swallows, but he nods anyway. Then he remembers Liam can’t see him through the phone. “Alright, I’ll do it.” Liam lets out what he’s learned is a relieved sigh.

“I’ve got to go but – they expect you there at noon, alright? Be there!” Then the line goes dead and all Louis feels is dread. He isn’t sure why this is so daunting, considering he’d been watching Liam do his job for the last few months, but none of it felt right. It didn’t feel right to do Liam’s job when he _knows_ Liam would do better.

He’s going to do it, of course, even if Liam would probably do better because the alpha trusted him to do it. So. He’s stuck in an obligation. Or at least that’s what he’s going to keep telling himself until he feels better about the entire fucked up situation.

 

He’s expected at the inn by noon. It’s only eight, so Louis showers and takes his best suit from the closet and irons it, steams the undershirt and even takes one of his dad’s ties. Liam had emailed him a faux dresscode, an outline of what they’d discussed on the phone, and a few other things that Louis had read over.

He was going to do this.

Hopefully without throwing up.

****

** Day One **

Liam’s panic starts to settle on Louis as he’s getting ready. He realizes after a long moment, that he’s actually about to meet up with the alpha of a pack and go through all of the motions of a job far beyond his qualifications without Liam there to keep him in check.

It’s daunting.

But it’s also exciting, because Liam _had_ said that he could thrive in this field, afterall. He does enjoy it. He enjoys having that power of negotiation and loves the simple fact that people are actually willing to listen to him and hear his opinion and _use_ them. Perhaps that the omega part of him – that constant need to feel valid and listened to – but he doesn’t like to dim it down to just that.

He likes to hype it up to the fact that _he_ likes to feel valid. Not his _omega._ He, him, _Louis_ likes to feel like he’s being listened to and like his opinions are worth other people’s time. So. Yeah. Even if he is an omega, maybe he could do well in this field. He just hopes his heats don’t become a problem like they did for Liam – since Zayn went into one unexpectedly.

But. With most of their modern medicines he’s found that unexpected heats are actually rather uncommon and only really come along with a missed dose or untimely dose of medication. So. As long as he can be a _responsible_ person and actually take care of himself like he needs to, maybe he can be successful in a field like this.

He eats half a bagel with far too much cream cheese piled on top as he heads out the door and sticks four mints in his mouth when he’s done before he reaches the cabins.

He chose to walk, he thinks, because it’s nice out. But really, he just didn’t want to have to ask his mum for a ride because that would only spike questions and then his dad would be calling Liam and everything would just spiral. So. He keeps everything that’s happening under wraps and tries not to be too obvious about the fact that he’s stressed as he walks.

Louis makes his way to the inn by 11:45. He’s developed a habit of being somewhat early to everything he does that’s important just so he isn’t _late._ He sits in the lobby and goes over Liam’s notes once again until it’s five till, and then he walks outside to the suite cabin where he knows Alpha Styles and his representative will be staying for the next ten days or so.

“Hello.” A man at the door says when it’s opened and Louis freezes. The man doesn’t falter, though, and stares for a moment before speaking again. “Are you the pack relations manager, then?”

“Uh –“ He needs to say no, needs to say he’s just an assistant since his boss can’t make it, but the words are out before he can even think about them. “Yes.” The man smiles, then, and steps to the side to let Louis inside of the large cabin.

“I’m Nicholas Grimshaw, Alpha Styles advisor.”

“Of course. I’m Louis Tomlinson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He says with a soft, professional smile. They shake hands, but it’s awkward in the way that Mr. Grimshaw clearly isn’t sure what the boundaries are when it comes to touching unmated omegas in this pack’s culture. But once their hands meet and Louis doesn’t flinch away, he watches as that hesitation slips away and the professionalism comes back.

The cabins in the front area of their pack’s land suit visitors and are rarely used, but this is certainly the least commonly used. It’s easily larger than Louis’ permanent _home_ and probably twice as expensive, too. It’s decorated beautifully and he knew the Style’s pack was a wealthy pack, but he didn’t realize the extent of it. If they had the funds to throw around in such a willy-nilly way like this, he was almost afraid to start discussing other budgets with them, if the topic were to arise. He has a little trouble wrapping his head around the fact that people are staying here for business.

“Alpha Styles is still in bed, currently, and I apologize for this. He’s yet to start taking this situation seriously… but I’m hoping you can help with that.”

“Yes, of course. That’s what I’m here for.” He gives a smile that he hopes is convincing. Liam is not going to be happy with him if he catches word of his deception, but Louis has always been a creature of procrastination. He likes to deal with things when they’re right in his face, rather than dealing with them when it’s most appropriate.

“I do apologize if this is a rude comment, though,” Louis doesn’t let himself flinch, “But is it typical for omegas to hold offices of power in this pack?” Oh, God. What if this pack is anti-omega rights? He hadn’t even thought of that – and his heart catches in his throat. But he can’t waver now.

“It’s not uncommon. Omegas are presented with the opportunity if we chose to take it, but if we don’t that’s not looked down upon either.”

“Interesting.” The man says, but his comment isn’t laced with a snide tone, so Louis lets it drop. “Ah, Alpha! Lovely to see you! Good _morning!”_ The man says, clearly exasperated and unafraid to show his frustrations. Louis glances over to the clock to see it’s nearly half noon.

But – Louis’ mind goes off on a tangent the second the alpha emerges from his room. He’s _certain_ he’s never seen an alpha so beautiful, and he’s sure he’ll never get his eyes out of his head. It’s really a shame that he’s here on business. He’s wearing a button down shirt, a green one that compliments his eyes and it’s barely half-buttoned, showing off a tattoo taking up most of his chest. He buttons the shirt up two more buttons and Louis hides his disappointment as well as he can.

“You’re the pack relations manager, then?” The alpha asks Louis and he nods, extending his hand for Harry to shake. The alpha takes his hand and shakes it, and Louis tries to convince himself he’s just imagining it when he feels like the alpha’s hand lingers just a moment.

“Yes, that’s me.” He says, voice soft like it gets on some occasions when he’s put in front of alphas. It’s only happened a handful of times in his life – that natural omega side of him coming out in the least desirable way, but he doesn’t miss the way the alpha’s eyebrows rise _just_ enough to make him seem interested.

“Do you have a name?” Louis’ cheeks felt hot.

“Louis Tomlinson.”

“Harry Styles.” The alpha seemed smug with the way he’d so obviously made Louis react, but before long the omega had a moment to be able to recompose himself and Harry went back to seeming uninterested. It was really a shame. Harry didn’t reach out to shake his hand and – maybe that’s why Nick had been hesitant before. Maybe they had a thing about touching unbonded omegas in their pack. He’d learned a lot about other packs that had different views on omegas – and one of the most prominent behaviors was that alphas weren’t really even supposed to interact with an omega unless they were attempting to court them. Usually, that was with the parent’s permission. _Touching_ an omega was usually a topic that many pack leaders got very… heated about. Usually it ended with Louis having to step out because he wasn’t going to turn into a whimpering fucking mess if an alpha shook his hand.  
But he let that anger subside because – that was just the kind of thing these people were raised with. He could imagine they probably felt similar about some of the things that happened in his pack.

“Right –“ Mr.Grimshaw cuts in. “Do you have any plans on how you’re going to help us, then, Mr.Tomlinson?”

“Of course.” Louis says and pulls out a bundle of papers from the case he’d been carrying. His stack is neatly printed out, stapled, labeled, and color coded. He’d always done that to all of Liam’s documents for him, and he’d done the same this morning. It kept him feeling like it was the same, usual routine. And, in an odd way, it left him with a feeling of comfort, that he could do this. He’d done this before, and just because Liam wasn’t here didn’t mean he couldn’t do it again.“I have an outline of a few different things that we should probably discuss and –“

“As much as I do appreciate your intentions of helping _Mr.Tomlinson –“_ Alpha Styles cuts in after he has his papers in hand. Louis raises his eyebrows and looks over to the alpha with a somewhat pointed look. He can’t really contain it at that point – can’t hold back his irritation at how the alpha just _dismissed_ him like that. He can’t help but wonder if he would have done that to Liam, too. “I don’t really think I need your help, so I’m going back to bed.” Harry returns to the room he came from just a few minutes before, then, and Louis takes a moment to stare at the closed door.

“That actually went much better than I thought it would have.” Mr.Grimshaw says from beside him with an amused sigh. Louis isn’t amused. “Would you like some tea while we discuss the plans, then?”

“Sure, that sounds lovely.” He sat where he was motioned to do so and when the other alpha sat opposite him, used all of Liam’s plans and a few of his own ideas to lay out a plan to make their packs form an alliance that would last.

He can handle just speaking with Nicholas. At least he seems to have a decent sense of respect for him, despite his secondary gender. So he doesn’t let himself dwell on the fact that Harry was rude to him and he certainly doesn’t let himself dwell on the memory of his barely covered chest by the half buttoned button up and he _definitely_ doesn’t let himself think about what the alpha would look like naked.

Of course not.

“I quite like these ideas of yours, Mr.Tomlinson. I think they fit our pack well and would certainly strengthen our alliance.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Now, to convince Alpha Styles.” The man said and Louis had tried to hide the fact that he was nervous, both of failure and any mistake he could see himself making.

“It shouldn’t be that hard.” He said, feigning the confidence that he knew Liam possessed.

“I certainly hope that optimism of yours doesn’t let you down, Mr. Tomlinson.”

“I do, too, Mr. Grimshaw. I’ll see you at eleven again tomorrow?”

“Yes. Have a good rest of your night.”

 

 

The first thing he does when he gets back to the office is dissect his notes.

He learns pretty quickly that Harry has a slight agitation with all of the responsibilities that are being loaded on top of him. He also learns that Harry dislikes how much his mother is trying to force him to be the kind of alpha he doesn’t want to be.

Nicholas disclosed that to him with the promise that he wouldn’t repeat a word of it.

He doesn’t. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t take that small fact into consideration when he starts planning out how he is going to approach the alpha the next day and try to get him to actually listen to what he’s trying to say.

So far, he has two ideas. The first being the most logical. He needs to just approach him with a businesslike approach, keep everything formal, but also not make him feel like he’s being pressured. Perhaps he’ll ask the alpha if he has any ideas first, and rather than just spreading out everything that Liam spread out for him, he’ll listen to the alpha. From there, he hopes, their ideas will align at least a little bit and he’ll have something to work off of. The second plan is somewhat devious, but he also isn’t really afraid to stoop that low and use them if he needs to. He wouldn’t exactly be _shameless_ if he were to use instinctual courting techniques to get the alpha to pay attention to him – but he wouldn’t _not_ do it, either. It’s a jumble in his head and he doesn’t really have a single clue about what he’s going to do as of yet, but he’s decided he’ll figure it out.

He has ten days of his life to prove himself worthy to Liam. To show that what the alpha sees in him is true and not just Liam projecting what he hopes will happen when he becomes alpha.

So, he brings work home with him.

He goes home at five as per usual, but he’s already reading up on Liam’s notes and Yaser’s demands and all of their current situation. Liam’s given him full access to his private files on his computer for the next ten days with the trust that Louis will only use what’s necessary for this client, and Louis has stayed faithful in that respect.

It wasn’t that their packs weren’t already in close quarters, actually, they were two of the closest allied packs in the country. But that was under Harry’s father’s rule, and since Harry was about to become pack alpha, as stated under their pack law would happen when the alphas eldest alpha son reached twenty five years old, they had to reform boundaries and ideals that matched with new leadership. Louis was almost… amazed by the fact that there was such a young transfer of leadership in their pack, but he didn’t let himself dwell on it.

If they’d done that as tradition, it wasn’t his place to speculate on it. In their pack, it was five years after the eldest son of the pack mated. Mating age was usually around twenty-three, and Zayn had respected that entirely. Liam would become the pack alpha in about two years, at the age of twenty eight. So maybe three years wasn’t that big of a difference. But. Whatever. 

He read over his notes about Nicholas’ reactions to the things he’d said. Nicolas didn’t seem to have any issues with what he was saying and certainly didn’t have anything he didn’t like that was in Louis’ plan, even the thing’s he’d made up himself, and it was all working out well.

 

He returned to his research after he went downstairs and ate a late dinner. He did his best to ignore his mother’s concerned face as he took his plate upstairs and gave the simple excuse of, “work” and she didn’t say anything else.

They were the largest pack in the UK as of current, totaling at over 15,000 pack members and – Louis couldn’t even imagine. All of those people under the rule of one _single_ alpha.

The Styles Pack had had the same bloodline in rule for the last two hundred years without complaint from the people, though, so it must not have been anything terrible. Their rulers had always been good, and most of the time they were easy-going around the packs that surrounded them. The last uprising that the pack had had was almost three hundred years ago, and it was when the development of omega rights was at the peak. The uprising was against it.

Then he types in _Styles Pack Omegas_ and hit search with shaky hands. He knew he shouldn’t be bringing work home with him, shouldn’t be ignoring his family and personal life in favor of researching a client, but he really just can’t help it. He should be emailing Liam more, should be messaging the alpha and asking him what he should be doing or begging forgiveness for likely fucking it up as badly as he has already.

He closes his eyes for a moment while the search engine loads, then he takes a deep breath and opens his eyes and starts reading.

It’s obvious from the get-go that omegas in their pack are not treated badly. They aren’t given all of the rights that they are given within his pack, but they certainly are treasured. He doesn’t read much beyond that, satisfied to know that he isn’t dealing with an alpha that can’t take him seriously _only_ because of his gender. So. That’s a little better.

 

Niall comes over later in the night with brownies from the bakery down the road and falls asleep in his bed after they eat together. Niall usually gets like that when he’s getting close to his heat, so Louis doesn’t say anything. Just lets him stay and falls asleep with his body pressed against his own.

 

** Day Two **

“This is absolutely insane, Niall. You’re kidding me!” He says – screeches – to the blond who is lounging on his bed and reading an article from his phone.

“Not kidding, man. Apperantly Yaser is really, like _really,_ sick, so he’s gonna pass the Alpha Position off to Liam within the next year.”

“Do you think…”

“Lou – I think you’re a little um, hopeful, to be honest.” Louis furrows his eyebrows and puts his hands on his hips as he looks over to his friend. “I really don’t mean you’re bad at your job – cause you aren’t. I’m just saying that Liam probably wouldn’t put an omega in his place. I know we’re all omega rights and what not, but think about it. He was so distressed when _his_ mate went in to heat that he had to push off his job onto you.”

“No, he pushed off his job onto me because I’m capable of handling it.”

“Lou, you know you’re not taking it in the way I’m putting it.”

“Oh yeah? You’re just saying I’ll never get a decent job because I turn into a sex driven bitch once a month naturally, right? That’s what you’re saying? Cause I’m picking that up just fine!” He wasn’t sure where this sudden burst of anger was coming from, but he couldn’t really contain it at that point. It was better to let it out than keep it in. At least that was what he’d learned from his _Nature Of Omegas_ book he’d been given for his fifteenth birthday. Omegas had a tendency to take things personally and get really heated, but it would pass pretty quickly when it processed in their brains to sadness and distress rather than anger.

“Lou, why on earth would I be saying _that?_ I’m O, too. Asshole.” Niall said, obviously just as angry as he was. It only fueled his own anger more and he threw a shoe at Niall. It smashed into the wall behind him, which wasn’t what he’d intended, but he suddenly realized how bad he would have felt if it would have actually hit his friend. So he just crossed his arms over his chest. “Lou, I’m just saying that you’re just an intern. No matter your secondary gender. Liam would be an asshole to promote you from intern to leader so suddenly – he’d be throwing you into a world completely different from the one you’re currently living and I don’t think that would be fair of him to do. I mean, look at how late you stayed up last night for just _one_ client. Would you really be interested in doing that every night for the rest of your life?” Niall’s anger seemed to have disappeared at that point, but Louis didn’t really want to see the logical side of this whole situation. He wanted to feel his emotions and be mad about the logic.

Instead, he sat on his bed and sighed softly. It wasn’t his intention to get both of them mad, so he laid his head against Niall’s shoulder and frowned. “I’m sorry for blowing up, Ni. I know what you’re saying. I guess – I’m sensitive, I guess.”

“I know, Lou. You’ve always been sensitive, that’s why I know not to take it seriously.”

“Thanks, mate.” He smiled, finally. “I guess I should probably start getting ready, though. I have a feeling that today is going to be a rough day.”

“How come?”

“Well, yesterday, this alpha – he’s like. Fuck. He’s actually the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life, Ni. But he’s such a – an _asshole!_ Like, he came out and introduced himself then said he doesn’t want my help and left his advisor and I in a room alone. So, I have a bad feeling that the same thing is going to happen today. He’s just – uninterested, I guess. Like, maybe he just doesn’t want to be the alpha of his pack? I honestly don’t know, but it’s totally aggravating. I shouldn’t have to deal with this.” He groaned.

“Well, maybe if you don’t make it feel like a meeting he’d be more interested?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well like, I know Liam’s always all formal and likes to keep everything in an office setting, but you don’t have to. If this alpha is so intent on not wanting to discuss this because he doesn’t want to be alpha, maybe make him feel like he doesn’t have to be alpha. Talk to him about the issues but like…. Keep it casual, I guess?”

“You’re actually a genius Niall!” Louis kisses him on the mouth and they both pull back instantly with a laugh.

“Oh, I know.” Louis rolls his eyes after that and goes and puts on his suit that his mother had (thankfully) taken from his bedroom floor the night before and washed. He might be considered an adult, technically, but sometimes little things like that help him feel safe and taken care of in the way his nature demands but he doesn’t want to ask for.

Niall walks with him until they reach the place he works and then the other omega leaves him to do the rest of his walk by himself as he clocks in and gets ready for his own shift. Niall didn’t really plan to be a working omega when he got mated, but rather he wanted to stay at home and raise a family. His job at the library was really just a distraction and a convenience since he was surrounded by something he loved to do all day. Louis wasn’t jealous, because he really liked his job, too, but he was jealous of the fact that Niall knew what he was doing with his life. He had an idea of what he wanted and what his aspirations were and what he wanted from life.

Really, Louis was just winging his decisions. All he could hope for at this point was for everything to go in his favor.

Like, maybe by some miracle there would be an alpha somewhat similar to his Harry that would somehow live in his pack and be with him and help him achieve his life goals.

He decided to stop thinking about that when it came time to be at work.

Louis returned to the same cabin. The only difference this go round was that the nervousness in his gut was absent when he knocked on the door and he didn’t feel like he was going to throw up. Alpha Styles and his advisor were set to stay in their pack territory for about another eight days, and Louis was very glad that they were given that long to convince the alpha of their plan. After the day before, when Harry had still refused to get out of bed even after Nicolas had attempted to persuade him, he’d ended up leaving without doing anything really productive the entirety of the meeting.

Of course, discussing with Nicholas was somewhat productive. But the alpha’s advisor couldn’t implement any of the actions he was discussing them taking so it felt kind of pointless. The only thing Louis really got out of it was the validation that all of his ideas matched their values and ideals in the styles pack. So. At least he knew he wasn’t going to make Alpha Styles terribly uncomfortable when he brought up his pack’s strict views on omega rights and how they wouldn’t even form an alliance with a pack who didn’t share at least similar views. It was always the hardest and most intense part of the meetings he’d sat in with Liam on.

Since Yaser was so fond of Zayn – and he was an omega – he’d started implementing such stricter laws on omega equality. Louis loved it and all, but the other packs often times didn’t. It was stressful, at times. But. He wasn’t going to get there yet. If everything went on track, that wasn’t something they were going to have to talk about until the fourth day. At least.

When he was allowed inside this time, the only difference was that Alpha Styles was sitting on the couch, typing away on his phone. Nicolas gave another soft sigh, but this time it sounded a bit less amused. “Alpha Styles, sir, Louis is here to run through his plan with you. Are you willing to hear it today?”

“I wasn’t entirely willing to do so yesterday, so, Nicolas, enlighten me. What could have possibly changed in the last twenty four hours that would make me willing to hear it now? I don’t want to talk about plans and I certainly don’t want to talk about me becoming the Alpha. I’m going out.”

“Wait –“ Louis interjects, making both of the men in front of him raise their eyebrows. But both of their attention is now on him and he isn’t going to waste that. “How about we go somewhere a bit less formal to discuss this? The paps can catch you around the city interacting positively so you’ll gain a positive reputation with the people of this pack _and_ you can hear me out without this sounding as horribly stuffy and businesslike as it feels right now.” Harry’s face still reads with an unamused expression, but after a moment he shrugs.

“I suppose. Let’s go, then.” That really wasn’t what he’d had planned for the day, but if Nicholas’ open mouth and confused expression are anything to go off of, he figures it’s working. So when Harry grabs a jacket and walks out the door, Louis leaves his bag and lets himself follow. He’s pretty much memorized what he’s intended to discuss with the Alpha today, so he doesn’t really need it. It was more of a formality.

They walk in silence for a long while, until the alpha finally speaks up. “You seem a bit young to have this job.” Louis isn’t sure why that comment surprises him. He’d assumed he’d say something about him being an omega and having this job, not being nineteen and having this job.

“I’ve got good connections.” He says, because it’s true. He technically doesn’t – he doesn’t _have_ this job. So that’s not the truth. But he’s not going to say some false story about how he worked for it or something. Harry seems to take that well and just nods his head.

“How old are you, then?”

“Are you just going to ask me questions about myself? Do I get to ask you questions too?” Louis puts his hands on his hips and faces Harry. The alpha seems amused, so Louis will take that as a good sign. If getting the alpha warmed up to him is what it will take to get him to let him discuss work, well, he’ll take it.

“Are you always this cheeky?” Harry’s smiling, so Louis can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Do you always answer questions with questions?”

“Do you always have to have the last word?” Louis finally laughs and – _Christ_ this alpha has dimples when he smiles. He might actually pass out.

“No, but it seems to me that you do, Alpha Styles.”

“I’m not ashamed to admit that.” The alpha pauses. “Please call me Harry, by the way. I’m not the alpha yet. Not entirely ready to be, honestly.” Louis isn’t sure what to do with that information, but he blinks a few times.

“Can I ask why?”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” He says softly and Louis nods. “Unless you answer some of my questions first.” The alpha grins again and Louis rolls his eyes.

“Alright. We’ll take turns.”

“Deal.” Harry looks around, as if considering what he wants to ask. “What’s your favorite place around here?”

“Frosty’s, probably. It’s the only place in this pack that is kind of like a bakery but kind of _isn’t,_ I guess. It’s like a coffee shop, bakery, and a library all rolled up into one little shop.” Louis says with a smile. “What’s your favorite time of day?”

“I like the mornings. Like, the time from right before sunrise until just after the sun’s come up and everything’s kind of just orange.” A pause. “Will you take me to this _Frosty’s?”_

“I suppose that’s a bit of a cheating question, then, isn’t it? Sure.”

 

So, no. The day does not go how Louis expected it to by any means. They wind up at Frosty’s and Louis laughs when Harry practically moans over a cup of his favorite triple-sweet cup of hot chocolate. Eventually, Harry opens up a little more to the idea of Louis having to ask him questions that are at least somewhat related to work, but he slips them in in between proper, friend-like conversation so it doesn’t feel too terribly formal. Harry’s aware that he’s working, of course, and his mood seems to dampen a bit each time a question about his ideas of how their packs could come together comes up, but Louis is quick to fix it right after.

He’s good like that.

Perhaps it’s one of his best skills, he thinks. His ability to make people love him and make them gravitate towards him. He’s always been a people pleaser, always been good with making people fall for him even when he doesn’t entirely intend for that. Here, he’s not at all intending to make Harry fall for him. That would only lead to disaster. But he isn’t guilty about using his people skills to get him in the exact mood he wants him in to both get his (slightly selfish) dose of friendly discussion in on top of the professional chatter that they’ve been going about throughout the day.

“Hey, it’s 5 o’clock.” Harry says, softly, almost as if he’s saddened by the time.

“Yeah. Everything okay?”

“Does that mean you’re off work and you’re going to leave now?” Harry almost looks _sad_ and Louis stomach does this little flip that he can’t – he doesn’t even want to try and describe.

“I’ll stay if you want. But you have to buy me another hot chocolate.” Harry laughs and nods, almost immediately goes up to the counter and brings them both back two cups.

“The lady said they close soon, so she gave us to-go cups.” He looked out the window and Louis let his gaze follow. This was his favorite time of day, really. All of the businesses started closing up, lights went out and everything started to get quiet. The only things that stayed really bustling throughout the night were the overnight shops in the square. They didn’t have any pubs or bars in their pack, since alcohol wasn’t really much of a focus in their culture. So if anyone wanted to party, they had to go elsewhere. “Does everything really close this early here?”

“Yeah. Almost the entire city is silent by seven. Except around holidays, then the square will have a carnival and everything will be lit up almost the entire time for a couple weeks. But other than that, yeah. We have an eight o’clock curfew.”

“Curfew?” Harry asks, eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah. It’s – it’s not really _enforced_ I guess. Like if we were out walking at 8:05 no one would say anything, but people are expected to be inside by then or outside with a purpose in mind. Not just wondering.”

“That’s –“ Harry pauses as if trying to come up with a proper word. “Kind of weird.”

“Yeah. What’s your pack like, then? From a personal view, not politically.” He clarifies, keeping himself from drifting back into work. Harry’s right, he’s off. He should let himself relax and enjoy the fact that this alpha has decided to give him his attention.

“Um,” Harry says softly. “Big. It’s – massive. Something’s always happening. Celebrations, parties, galas, always. People are always out and about, shops are always open. We have a lot of street life and performers and entertainment and people are just – they always seem to be happy.” Harry seems to light up when he gets his chance to talk about his people. Louis can already tell he’ll be a wonderful leader for them when the time comes. “If I’m being honest… that’s why I’m not so eager to talk about making any changes when leadership transfers to me. I know you said not political, but I can’t help it. I just. Things are good how they are now and I don’t particularly want to make any changes because my people all seem happy and I don’t want to ruin that.”

“I respect that.” Louis says softly. He does. He really, really does. He can tell that Harry has so much love and adoration for his people and he really just does want the best for them when he becomes alpha. “I think it’s about time for me to call it a night, though, Harry. It was lovely seeing you and I’ll see you at eleven tomorrow morning.”

“Can I walk you home?” Louis shakes his head.

“It’s alright. I’ll be fine.”

“All right. See you tomorrow, Louis.”

 

 

** Day Three **

“You _what?”_ He asked Harry, the shock obvious in his voice. He’d been heading towards the cabin to find the alpha for their supposed-to-be business talk and found him standing outstide, playing on his phone with a bag tossed over his back.

“Yup. And you’re coming with me.” Louis glared. It was a playful glare, but he was still skeptical, no matter what. In place of a _hello_ Harry had greeted him with the fact that the two of them would be driving to his pack to go to a laser tag arena. Louis’ pack didn’t have anything within that realm, so the experience was something Louis had never had before. He’d heard of them, just like he had of all kinds of things that their pack didn’t have but others did, and it sounded incredible.

But. He was still skeptical.

The idea of leaving his own pack for the first time with an alpha at his side who he still didn’t know very well wasn’t really inticing. Along with the fact that Liam had trusted him with this job under the intention that he would be professional in every aspect of it. But. Looking at Harry’s face and how excited he was and the thought of doing something he’d never done and likely never would have done had Harry not suggested it made him decide that it would be worth it.

“Okay, okay. Fine. I’ll go. But what am I going to wear?”

“Oh, I have that covered. Here you go.” Harry handed him some seemingly brand new clothing and Louis narrowed his eyes again. “I found your sister in one of the shoppes when I was looking at watches. She showed me some of the things you liked, so. I swear it’s not like – I’m not trying to be creepy or anything. Cause I knew you’d show up in your little pressed suit and you obviously can’t go to laser tag in that.”

“Harry, I think it’s really nice of you to have done that.” He says with a smile. It wasn’t really weird to him that Lottie had run into Harry at the main clothing shop of their pack because that’s where she spends most of her time, so he didn’t think too much of it. “I’ll change, and then I expect you to show me the time of my life.”

Louis was astounded at this alpha. He wasn’t sure what it was – wasn’t sure what about him was drawing him in so close – but he didn’t want to let go. His scent was clinging to the clothes as he took them – and he couldn’t _wait_ to have that scent surrounding him. It was a strange thought, especially since he’d never once felt so strongly towards an alpha. “Where can I change?”

“Oh, right, sorry. Here.” Harry walked with him inside and led him to the room Harry had been sleeping in the last few nights. “I’ll be right outside – yeah. Um. Yeah.” The alpha smiled again and left him alone in the room, closing the door behind him.

Everything in the room smelled like Harry. It was almost overwhelming – but he just took a shallow breath to get used to it and pulled off the suit that was clinging to his skin. When his suit was off, he set it down on the floor and pulled on the jeans and shirt that Harry had purchased for him, smiling once again.

The jeans were tight, but not too tight, just the way he liked and the shirt was the perfect amount of loose to show off his assets and to be comfortable. So, with a once over of himself in the mirror against the wall, he tucked his now worn suit under his arm and walked back into the main room where Harry was waiting.

“You can leave that here if you’d like. You don’t have to carry it around all day.”

“Thanks.” Louis said with another smile and went to follow Harry again when the alpha motioned for him to do so. This was insane. It set in just then, it that moment, that he was about to take advantage of Liam in a way he’d never even dreamed of doing so before. He was taking advantage of Liam’s trust, here, by letting the alpha think he was doing business with Harry when he was really just about to go play a game with him. _And_ he was about to get paid for taking advantage of the other alpha, so, he felt kind of bad.

But then again, he did have to gain Harry’s trust, right?

“So, how are we going to be getting to your pack? I don’t think the train runs this early and –“

“I have a car.”

“Oh, cool. Okay.” Louis said with a smile, trying to hide his surprise. He was so… not used to the differences in lifestyle type between he and Harry. It felt – weird, in the kindest way, to hear Harry talk about owning a car so casually. But. Whatever.

Cars were fairly rare in his pack, since most everywhere was within walking distance for just about everyone. So, the highest members of the pack and people who frequently travelled outside of pack boundaries, were the only ones that had cars.

“You seem kind of shocked.”

“Just a little. I don’t know if you really noticed, but we all just kind of walk everywhere here.”

“I did notice. What about when it gets cold?”

“We all walk with big, heavy jackets.” He said with a laugh and let himself enjoy the look of Harry’s smile. It was so real, so wonderful and bright and Louis could look at it _forever._ He didn’t know where this attachment was coming from, but at this point, he wasn’t sure he was entirely ready to let it go. If he finally found an alpha that he really liked being around and trusted enough to be around, what could go wrong with that?

 

So Harry drove them to his pack’s territory, which was just a little more than an hour and a half’s drive, and Louis looked out the window almost the entire time. He and Harry still talked, spoke about anything and everything from the music they liked to what their parents were like when they were growing up, but Louis was just amazed with the world around him that he’d never seen. His pack was gorgeous, of course, and he’d never complain any time for the rest of his life about having the blessing of living there, but everything else seemed just as beautiful and large and wonderful to experience.

He said the exact same thing when they entered Harry’s territory, and his mouth fell open. There were buildings at _least_ twenty floors high and paved roads and _massive_ houses and restaurants and – Louis felt like one afternoon wasn’t enough to spend here. He wanted to see everything, to experience everything and one afternoon just wasn’t going to give him that chance. Or at least it didn’t feel like it.

“It’s beautiful here.” He said and looked at Harry’s smile.

“Yeah, it is. I love it all, it’s all so home-y to me.” Then there was a pause. “Would you like to see it? I could show you all of my favorite bits.” Louis grinned and nodded.

“I’d love to.” Harry nodded once and turned down another street as Louis continued to watch outside of his window.

“Alright, we’ll start from my house then.”

“Your pack house?” Louis said, a slight panic rising in his voice. He didn’t like that. Omegas weren’t supposed to go anywhere near an alpha’s packhouse unless they were being courted or bonded. Louis wouldn’t mind that – perhaps – but he would have liked to _discuss_ it first. Harry looked over, as if sensing his panic.

“Louis, it’s okay. I’m not – nothing here is traditional. Omegas can come and go to my house without question, as long as they have a reason and the invitation to be there.” Louis still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it, but he nodded anyway. “We aren’t very traditional here, in those kinds of aspects. I think the only thing we’re _really_ traditional in in this pack is our bonding ceremony.”

“Traditional bonding ceremonies are beautiful, I don’t blame your family for keeping them.” Harry smiled again and parked his car outside of what Louis assumed was his house. He swallowed his panic down for good as he let it sink in that this didn’t mean to Harry what it meant to him – and that was okay.

“We don’t have to go inside if you don’t want to, Lou. It’s cool.” _Lou._ His heart fluttered at the nickname.

“I don’t really mind – like you said –“

“ _Harry!”_ A woman called and Louis jumped. “Harry Styles, what on _earth_ are you doing _home?_ You are expected to be on busi –“ The woman, who Louis assumed was Harry’s mum, met his shocked gaze and calmed immediately. “oh, hello. Who’s this, Harry?”

“ _Mum._ Please. I’m – this is Louis. He’s the PR rep for the Malik pack.” Her gaze held the message of her shock of him being an omega well enough and the sick feeling was amplified inside of his stomach.

“Yes, ma’am. We were um – I’ve never seen your pack before. So Harry here was going to show me a bit, show me some of your customs in person so we could continue to discuss things on a level that pertains more to experience than hypothetical scenarios.” The woman’s happy expression seemed almost to fall, but then she put a smile back on her face. She pulled Harry close and whispered something in his ear and Louis rocked on his heels.

“Well, I’m Anne Styles and you’re welcome to ask me or my mate any questions you might have as well while you’re in town.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He said with a nod and watched as the woman walked back inside. Harry had a faint blush on his face and looked at Louis with an apologetic smile.

“I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t even think about how my mum would react to – yeah.”

“To… you bringing an omega home?” Louis said with a teasing quirk of an eyebrow.

“Oh, hush. Don’t let her hear you speaking like that! She’ll start planning a wedding!” He said with a laugh. “But, I think we might skip the whole going inside bit afterall. I’d rather not have a reapeat of that situation.” Louis nodded and smiled.

Harry’s pack house was nice – nothing incredibly extravagant, but nothing small either. It was a bit larger than the house of his pack and he couldn’t help but wonder how many people were in Harry’s family. What was his normal routine like? What did he do every day? He wanted to know everything – wanted to get to know the alpha better and get closer with him.

It wasn’t even about the business anymore, which made him feel an awkward mixture of pride and fear.

He’d finally found someone who he thought would be worthy of his time, after practically giving up on ever being able to find a decent alpha with his fear of some of them, but Harry made everything feel wrong. He made everything he’d always thought about alphas feel wrong and like it was all just a big lie. Harry made him feel like he could be free from all of those fears one day, whether he got to do that beside the curly haired alpha or not.

 

“Okay, so this is the bakery I work at on the weekends.”

“You work?”

“Yeah. For fun, mostly. I love baking and since I don’t have anything else to do on the weekends, it kind of just appealed to me.”

“That’s really cool.”

“I like to think so, yeah. I’d say we could go in, but if we stop everywhere I want to show you, we won’t have enough time to finish everything. So. I’ll try and only chose the best of the best to stop at.” Louis nodded and smiled. He could tell he was walking closer to the alpha than necessary, but he couldn’t really pinpoint why. Did he want Harry to hold his hand? Did he just want to feel safer around a world of people he didn’t know? Did he want to keep Harry’s scent on him? He wasn’t entirely sure, but in the end, he didn’t really care all that much, either.

They kept walking, some people greeting Harry and smiling, others walked by without a word at all.

“Okay, okay. We’ve got to stop here.” Louis quirked an eyebrow but nodded and followed the alpha to the little fountain that was surrounded by these benches. “This is my great-grandfather’s wish fountain.” Harry dug through his pocket and found two coins before he handed one over to Louis and kept one for himself. “He said this fountain is what granted him his life’s biggest dream, all because he tossed a penny inside. He never told me what it was, but he always said to only throw a penny with a whole-hearted wish inside of it.”

“Alright, a wholehearted wish. So, like, something for the better of the world?”

“Or your greatest desire. Anything of substance.” Louis nodded and took his coin in his fist, squeezed it tightly as he considered his wish.

_I wish to be happy one day, for everything to work out and my life to follow the path I was meant to follow._

Then he throws it inside of the well and turns to Harry.

“What’d you wish for?” The alpha asks with his signature smile.

“I can’t tell you, Mr.Alpha, or else it won’t come true.”

“I suppose you’re right, wise omega.” Louis rolls his eyes and follows when Harry walks on, leading him towards the next thing on his list that seems important.

 

The next incredibly important thing, as it turns out, was the town square. “This is the longest stop, probably.” Harry says softly. “It’s the most important place to me, I think, because it reminds me about how every single person here has a life and a world of their own that I could never even begin to comprehend, even if I tried. I know so few of these people’s stories and I know so little about my people as individuals, so I like to sit out here and just see that all of them have their lives and they do things that make them happy.”

“You want to know something, Harry?”

“Of course.”

“You astound me, really.” Louis smiles and decides to take the leap. Sitting there, right beside the only alpha he’s ever felt he could one day trust with his entire self, he leans his head against his shoulder and lets the closeness fill both of their minds. “You’re so – you’re incredible. You think of everyone all the time and you’re stubborn and terribly stuck inside of your own head, but I can see why. You think about everything and how what you do will affect everyone and I respect you for that greatly. I think you’ll make a wonderful alpha someday.” He says with a smile.

He doesn’t notice the flash of a camera until the photographer is already walking away, but he doesn’t take any mind to it.

“You want to know something, Lou?”

“Yes.” He says with a smile.

“You’re the only omega – the only _person,_ really – that I feel like I can be my true self around. You make me feel something no one has ever made me feel before. It kind of scares me, honestly. But it’s also beyond exciting because you are so truly unlike anything _I’ve_ ever seen before, and I want to get to know you more and I have all of these feelings of wanting to protect you and my instincts tell me to, and I’ve never felt like this before.” Louis lets that sink in for a long while, staying there with that wonderful closeness between him and the alpha.

“I feel that way, too.”

 

Their final stop is the laser tag that Louis was promised. When they step inside of the building, the first instruction is to put on these awkward, heavy vests that have guns attached. Louis puts his on and laughs at how the material drops to below his knees and Harry says it makes him look cute. They end up asking someone else to take a picture of them together on Harry’s phone, and on Louis’ as well, and the stranger complies with a friendly smile.

They walk into the arena, and the first thing Harry does it shoot Louis straight in the chest. He gasps and runs away, hides behind a platform where he can see Harry and waits – and then he strikes and laughs as he watches Harry’s vest blinks and fizzles out to a white color from the blue it had been a few seconds earlier.

They don’t end up paying any attention to the score board or anything but each other, running about and only focusing on shooting the other. It’s the most fun Louis has had in a long, long time he realizes and when the speaker comes on and announces that the round is over, Louis flings himself onto Harry and makes the alpha carry him out. They’re both sweaty and laughing, but it’s wonderful. Louis wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Disgusting.” He hears from behind him.

“Right? I wouldn’t let _my_ omega out like that.” It’s two sentences from total strangers that destroy his mood. Harry sets him down and there’s a frown on his face, so Louis assumes he can tell that it upset him.

“Excuse me?” He says to one of the boys and they turn to face Harry. It seems like they had a response on their tongues until they realized who they were speaking to. “Did you have a comment you wanted to make to my face on how I was treating an omega? Or did I hear an apology?”

“Oh, um. We’re so sorry – we didn’t mean any harm.” One of the boys said.

“Yeah, we’re really sorry.” The other says and then they run off and Louis smiles, even though it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“I’m really sorry about that, Lou.”

“It’s okay, Harry. No harm done, I’m fine.” He smiles again and this time it feels a little more genuine. He isn’t sure if it’ll ever stop hurting him when he hears people talk down about omegas, but knowing that Harry would be willing to stand up for him makes it feel a little bit better.

“Alright. I think it’s about time to get you home, yeah? It’s going to be way past your curfew when we get back, though.”

“Oh, shit.” He says and Harry quirks a curious eyebrow. “I didn’t – the gate won’t be open for someone to let us in past curfew. We can’t get in.” Harry seems to realize, then, and takes a deep breath.

“Oh, shit.” Louis laughs. “Well… do you um, you could stay at my house, of course. I’m sure my mum would understand. Or I could get you a hotel room.”

“Whichever is alright with me.” He says, but he wants to say that he’d rather be with Harry. He doesn’t though, because he isn’t ready to lose all of his pride just yet. As much as he does want to be with Harry, he knows that the alpha has to want that just as much.

“Okay. You can come home with me, then. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

 

He winds up back at Harry’s house. His mother, as it turns out, is still awake and she gives the two of them only one look before he knows the two of them are in for much more than a roast of questions.

“ _Harry!”_ She says with a disapproving tone and Louis can’t help but wince. She sighs softly and pats the couch beside her. Harry sits and the alpha gestures for Louis to follow, so he does. “I don’t – I’m sorry. Perhaps I don’t approve of this because I don’t understand. What’s happening here? You’re from a different pack, Louis. Why are you here?” He suddenly realizes that the woman is an omega, too, and a slight sense of relief washes over him. Maybe she’s just looking out for him because he’s an omega.

“Mum – okay.” Harry starts with a sigh. “Louis and I weren’t on business today. We were out because we quite enjoy each other’s company and I – I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

“You’re right. There’s nothing wrong with that, love. But, what _is_ wrong with it is the fact that you brought an _unbonded_ omega to your home to _spend the night!”_ She sounded somewhat frantic, then, and Louis felt the anxiety creeping up under his skin.

“Mum, we aren’t going to have sex. Louis is going to sleep in the guest room and I’m going to sleep in my room. His pack’s curfew has passed because we weren’t thinking of the time, so he can’t get home tonight. We’ll both be returning to the Malik Pack in the morning, but we need to sleep for tonight.” Louis isn’t sure what to do with his hands and suddenly that’s what he’s thinking about. He folds them up on his lap and keeps his eyes trained to the ground, unsure of what he’s supposed to do or say or if he’s even supposed to do or say _anything._ So he just stays still and quiet.

Then he hears Anne’s defeated sigh and looks up. “Louis, I’m really just looking out for you, okay? I’m so sorry if I seem a bit wild, but I just. I understand what it’s like to be an unbonded omega around an unbonded alpha and I want you safe and I want my son safe. So, I’ll have to be a bit wild at times to make sure that happens.”

“Of course, I understand. I’m sorry we lied to you earlier.”

“It’s alright, love. My son is old enough to not have to explain to me when he’s out on a date.” She smiles softly and Louis glows under the word _date._

_Date._

It makes his heart flutter and he nods his agreement with an appreciative smile. “Thank you.” He finally says after a moment.

“I think we should head off to bed, Lou. You alright with that?”

“Sounds great.” He says and stands to follow Harry up the stairs.

“I sleep on the second floor, since my parents have the master suit on the top floor. But the second floor has two guest bedrooms, so you can chose one of them to sleep in and I’ll get you some sheets and stuff and make up your bed.” Harry says softly and turns down a hallway when they reach the second floor. “This is the first choice.” He says and opens the door. “And,” he pauses and walks a few more doors down and opens another door, “The second.” The second room smells a lot more like Harry, so he decides then that he wants that one.

“Could I have the second one, please?”

“Of course.” Harry says and gets this pleased little smile on his face that makes Harry’s stomach flip. “I’ll be right back.” The alpha steps away and Louis walks a bit further inside of the room and looks around. There’s a guitar set up against the wall and Louis realizes that this was probably a room Harry was in somewhat often. Maybe that’s why his scent was so all over everything and it made his head spin in the best way.

He felt safe here. He felt like everything was alright and he was surrounded by good things in the world.

Harry came in a few moments later with some sheets and a duvet in his arms. Then he went over to the bed and started making up the bed _for him._ He couldn’t help but gawk, really. An alpha doing such a simple household chore was practically unheard of.

“Good night, Louis. You’re welcome to come find me in the morning, or if you’re not awake I’ll come wake you before we need to head out, alright?”

“Alright, Harry. Thank you so much.”

He sleeps soundly that night, surrounded by Harry’s comforting scent and the word _date_ still scrambling around in his head.

 

 

** Day Four **

When he woke the next morning, it was to a gentle touch on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Harry smiling down at him, so he let himself come back into consciousness. “Hey, it’s still pretty early, but we should probably head off soon.” He sat up and let himself stretch, and Harry had this pleased look on his face.

“What’s got you so happy?”

“You smell good –“ The alpha said and his eyes widened. “God, that was – that was really inappropriate, wasn’t it? I’m so sorry I just –“

“It’s okay, Harry. I don’t mind.” The alpha was smiling and Louis suddenly felt good. He felt like that was enough to convey to the alpha that he didn’t mind if he made any advances. Something about him made things that he normally would panic about feel safe. “I kind of like it too. My scent with yours, it’s nice.”

“Yeah – it is.” Harry said with a smile. “I’m going to go make something up for breakfast. Do you have anything in mind?”

“Anything you want, I don’t mind.” He said with another smile and watched as the alpha nodded and walked out of the room. It blew his mind in the best way to think that Harry was willing to do all of these domestic things for him. It was so uncommon for alphas in his pack to do _anything_ domestic unless their omegas were in heat – so he really just had to think about it for a while. Everything about Harry made him have to think and he really, really enjoyed it.

There’d only ever been two other alphas who’d attempted to court him and both of them had only left him with an unsettled feeling. The first, he’d agreed to let help him through a heat and the alpha had attempted to bond him without his permission – and the scar was still a prominent memory of the terrible accident. The second, he’d almost fallen in love with. He was _so_ close to there when the alpha’s controlling side started coming out. He voiced him into doing things and got terribly possessive anytime he tried to go out anywhere. They were both before he was even legally an adult and it really just left him nervous and unsettled around alphas in general.

So, he’d slowly started developing some kind of instinct to know when an alpha was bad and when they were going to hurt him. Harry didn’t give him any of those feelings – instead he made him feel safe and cared for. It was still so strange to think about him in that way when he’d only known the alpha for a few days, but maybe, just maybe, if they were meant to be – he could feel it already and it would be just.

He’d read about alpha and omega couples being drawn to each other immediately because of their scents and because they felt right together. But that seemed different from what he was feeling when he was with Harry. Of course he felt _right_ but not in any of the ways that he’d read in books. All of the books felt like they were dull and didn’t even begin to describe what he felt towards Harry.

Really, he felt like he was being pulled in. He felt like he could hold on to the alpha every moment and never get tired of being there. It was a wonderful feeling. Perhaps his mother had been right afterall, maybe she did need to worry about them being together.

Or maybe not. Harry seemed like he felt similar to what Louis felt – since he’d mentioned his scent – but he still wasn’t entirely sure. What if he didn’t? Louis wasn’t sure he could handle the feeling like he was just going to be wasting his time. Maybe he’d build the nerve to ask, or maybe he was just too tired to think about what he was trying to promise himself.

He sat up with his legs flung across the side of the bed and took a deep breath. He felt like that was actually the best sleep he’d had in a long time. He didn’t want to think about that – he didn’t want to think about the fact that he slept better because he was surrounded by _Harry._ So he didn’t. Instead, he pulled on the trousers he’d tossed off the night before and folded up and did a once over of himself in the mirror.

His hair was a mess, but he fixed it as best as he could with his fingers before he decided that was the best he could do. It was a bit awkward having to go out into public without brushing his teeth or being able to shower, but he’d be able to handle it. He understood that Harry wanted to get him back sooner rather than later, because it was probably pretty weird for them both to be here when no one really understood _why._

So he went out of the room and – he ran into a much taller man and fell back on his ass. He looked up and his heart dropped. The man was so obviously an alpha and – Louis wasn’t really _scared_ but he was nervous. He assumed this was the pack alpha and he was at a loss for words. “I’m so – I’m so sorry, um.”

“That’s okay.” The alpha said with a smile that reminded him greatly of Harry’s and reached out a hand to help him up. Louis blinked again - still not used to the customs that alphas seemed to have towards omegas here – but he took the alpha’s hand and let him help him up. “I do apologize, though, but… are you a … friend of Harry’s?”

“Oh – um. Yes. I’m working with him at my home – the Malik Pack? And we were out a bit last night and got caught up and didn’t realize my pack’s curew had passed and we weren’t able to get back. He … invited me to stay here.” The alpha nodded.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Desmond Styles.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Louis Tomlinson.”

“Thanks for talking with me, but I do have to go. Perhaps I’ll see you again.”

“Yeah um – sorry again, for running into you.”

“Don’t worry about it, really.” The alpha said as he walked away, towards the stairs and went upstairs. Louis went the opposite way and found his way downstairs and found Harry standing in the kitchen over the stove, making the food he was making and the kettle was already steaming.

“Hi.” He said softly and Harry turned over to him.

“Hey, Lou. Just in time, this is almost done.” Harry reached into a cupboard and pulled out two plates and set them to the side. “I can tell you’re kind of confused about things, yeah? I’m sorry if how I act is confusing. My mum has never been able to cook well, almost burned the house down a few times, actually.” He said with a little laugh, “So it’s become a bit of a tradition in our house for the alphas to cook for the omegas, instead of the other way around. I think it’s more fun that way anyway.”

“I think that’s awesome, actually. Thanks for explaining, too. I didn’t want to ask.” Louis said with a laugh.

“You can ask me anything, always. I don’t mind. Nothing really offends me anyway, honest.”

“I appreciate that.”

 

Harry made eggs and toast. It was fairly simple, but Louis wasn’t complaining. He’d never been much of a breakfast person, and it was still much too early for him to be really hungry enough to be ready to eat anything even similar to a full breakfast. Harry seemed to understand.  
When they sat down together to eat, it was silent for a while and Louis blushed when he kept catching Harry stealing glances.

“Louis?”

“Yes?”

“Feel free to tell me if this is completely unprofessional and totally beyond my right to ask you, but, would you like to go out sometime? On a proper date – like, with the intention of it being a date?” Louis blinked again, shocked. He’d never imagined he’d be asked out in this state – with his hair a mess and wearing the clothes he’d been wearing the day before – but he also couldn’t imagine it feeling any better.

“I’d – I’d really love that.” He smiles shyly and lets himself take in Harry’s big, dimpled smile as his stomach flips and his happiness builds up.

 

“ _Niall!”_ He calls out and runs inside of the omega’s flat. He and Harry had decided that Louis was going to go home for a few hours and get himself situated before he went out with him again. The other omega was fairly used to Louis just showing up and coming in whenever he pleased, but today was probably different.

“You absolute _twat!”_ Niall yelled out and pushed him against a wall. “Your mum has been calling me nonstop for the last ten hours, keeping me awake, questioning me on where the hell you’ve been. Why the fuck do you smell like an alpha? Where _were_ you?”

“Niall. I was with Harry, it’s okay.” Niall, however, didn’t seem to consider this as okay. Instead, his eyebrows raised and he started screaming again.

“It’s _okay?_ You were out with some random alpha from a pack two hours away who none of us have met and you’re covered in his scent and you want us all to think it’s _okay?_ What the _fuck_ Louis? This isn’t like you! What were you _thinking?”_

“Niall – I wasn’t. We didn’t mean to get stuck out. We just – weleftpackterritoryandwegotstuckoutside.”

“Try again, slower.” Niall says, but Louis already knows he understood him.

“We got stuck outside of pack territory beyond curfew…. So… I slept over at his pack house.” Niall looks even more flabbergasted than he had a moment earlier, and Louis isn’t sure what he wants to feel in that moment. He thought he was going to be able to come over here and talk about his date to Niall, but instead, he already just wants to leave. “I think I’m just going to go, though, Ni. I didn’t come here to get lectures. I would have just gone straight home if I wanted that.” He says with a sigh and turns to go out the door. Niall doesn’t stop him and he sighs as he walks.

Once he’s down the stairs already, he finally hears Niall’s voice. “Alright. Fine. You’re right. Come back upstairs and come talk to me, then.” Louis smiles a little and turns to go back upstairs. Once they’re safely back inside, the both of them collapse onto the couch.

“Harry asked me on a date.”

“A real date?” Niall asks and quirks an eyebrow.

“Yeah, like. A date-date. So we’re going out tonight for a little while. I’m so excited, Ni. He’s the first alpha I’ve ever really connected with like this, and I think there could be something there if I don’t fuck this up.”

“Lou… I’m happy for you but… he’s from a different _pack._ Babe, he’s … you can’t be with him. You’d have to get Alpha Yaser’s approval to leave the pack, and then you’d have to leave, like, and mate with him. Would you really want to do that? Or worse, what if you don’t mate for a while and you have to ask _Liam’s_ permission? Imagine how awkward that would be? And then what if he says no? I know you and you’ll leave anyway and then you’ll be dragged back screaming and they’ll force your bond to break, Lou. This won’t turn out well.”

“Niall – stop being logical. Please. For just one minute. I want to be excited about my date.”

“I want to be excited for you too, Lou. But I also can’t let you walk into this without making sure you’re considering everything that could happen.”

“I really don’t think they’d say no. It’s not like I’m a really necessary asset to the pack. My job isn’t incredibly important and I’m not going to be incredibly missed if I leave. So. They have no reason to say no, right?”

“I guess. But then you’d be leaving me and your entire family. Would you really be willing to leave us all for an alpha?” Louis frowned.

“I don’t know, Niall. But – there’s something there. I feel this incredible connection there and I don’t want that to go to waste. Besides, we certainly aren’t discussing mating yet, not even close. It’s the first date.”

“I know, babe. I’m glad you came to me first, though. Tell me all about him.”

“ _God.”_ Louis says with a grin and tells the other omega all about their day yesterday and all about the feeling of happiness and safety he gets when he is around the alpha. Niall seems to relax slowly as he speaks, which makes him feel better, so he keeps going. “I just – he makes me feel like I’m a good _omega._ Like – I’ve never even wanted to feel like that, right? But he makes me want to. I don’t even know – he fucking – he made _me_ breakfast this morning, Ni. Like, what? I’ve never heard of an alpha that can cook. I’m amazed.”

“You’re in love.” Louis choked on his own spit when he realized what Niall said.

“I’m not in love. I’ve only known him for four days.”

“So? You’ve read the same books I have. When an alpha and omega are compatible, they can fall in love much more quickly than any normal couple would have. Maybe it’s fate or summat that the two of you got paired together like this. I mean, what a fluke, right? Omega Zayn goes into heat and leaves Liam unable to help Alpha Harry… Then you get to help him… and you two hit it off right away? I’d call that fate, if you asked me.”

“Yeah, maybe. You know, you’re much too wise for me, Niall.”

“Maybe, but I just want you happy and safe, Lou. You’re my best friend and if you do end up leaving with him and falling in love with him and getting stupidly in love and being _disgusting_ then I won’t disapprove.” Louis laughed and leaned on the other omega. He was so glad he picked such an awesome best friend.

“Thanks, Ni.”

“Now, get your ass in the shower, I’ll text your mum and tell her what happened, and wear your sex clothes. Cause, I think you might need it since this is your first real date.”

“One time! Stop calling them my _sex clothes!”_

“I mean, they do make you look like walking sex… so…” Louis rolled his eyes and stood up before he went over to Niall’s bathroom. He was ready to have a good night and a good date and a happy experience with Harry. He was kind of nervous about how the night would turn out, but there was a bigger part of him that was optimistic enough to know that everything was going to turn out fine and there was absolutely nothing he needed to worry about.

 

When he finds Harry outside of Niall’s flat (after texting him the address) he’s pleasantly surprised to see that the alpha dressed up somewhat as well. Neither of them are in formal attire, but it feels more like dating attire. It makes Louis feel happy – like his thoughts are matched by the alpha and he’s not trying too hard. It’s a good feeling.

“So,” The alpha starts with a little smile. “I was thinking a picnic, but then I realized that it’s going to rain within a few hours. So, I booked us a reservation at a restaurant I heard was really good around here.” Harry says with a grin and a glint in his eyes that he can’t help but keen at.

“Harry.. there are no resaturants here that require reservations.”

“Shh, I know. Just. Trust me, okay?” Louis rolls his eyes and decides to trust him anyway. If Harry decided to put this much interest into something that he didn’t _have_ to, the least Louis can do is let it all play out. So he does.

It’s a little restaurant at the very edge of town called _dim_ and Louis quirks an eyebrow. He knows the person who owns the restaurant, in fact. Ed, a nice lad who’s never really had any goal in life other than to make people Happy. But, again, he decides to let this all play out.

“Okay, close your eyes, please?” Harry says softly and Louis can’t help but roll his eyes, but he does. Then Harry grabs his hand and he ignores the little flutter in his chest as he’s led in a direction he can’t really pinpoint. It’s probably a minute and a half before he feels Harry’s hand on the small of his back. “Okay, open.”

His mouth drops open when he opens his eyes. There’s candles set up at a table for two, along with some fairy lights and the lights are dimmed just the right amount. There’s a bottle of champagne on the table and soft music playing in the background.

Harry pulls his chair out for him and Louis is still slightly in shock as he takes everything in. He’s not sure anyone has ever done anything this kind for him before and he actually has to blink away the happy tears that form in his eyes.

“You’re incredible.” He says through a happy laugh. Harry’s eyes light up and he looks _happy._ Louis understands – he feels the exact same.

The alpha pours the both of them a sleeve of champagne and he even _pours Louis’ first._ It’s another small thing that Louis isn’t sure he’ll ever get used to. Little things like that that his culture likely wouldn’t approve of how an alpha treats an omega.

It’s a weird time to think about work, but he realizes that he needs to tell Liam that there’s nothing that they need to negotiate in that department with Harry’s pack. There’s not a single things wrong with the way that Harry has it set in his head for his people to treat omegas and he’s amazed with that realization.

“I can’t believe you did all of this for me.” He says with a smile.

“You deserve all of this and more, Lou. I can’t really explain this pull I feel towards you, but I want to make you happy.”

“You’re doing a really good job.” Louis says with a smile.

They spend the rest of their little date night chatting and talking about everything and anything and Louis tells stories of his life and Harry does, too, and everything feels so real and open and raw that he doesn’t want to give it up, not even for a moment.

 

When the night comes to an end, he’s still not ready to give it up. “What ever happened to your advisor? It seemed like he was everywhere those first two days, and now he’s just disappeared?”

“Oh, he had to go back home for a few days. My dad needed help with something pretty important, so he’ll be back in a day or two.”

“That’s cool.”

“But, that means I’m technically all alone in that big cabin… all by myself.” Harry says and waggles his eyebrows and Louis can’t help but laugh.

“You saying you need me, the big old omega to come and protect you?”

“Something like that, yeah.” Harry says with a grin. “Do you want to come back with me? You don’t have to, not by any means.”

“I’d love to, H. Honestly, I’m not quite ready for this night to end just yet.”

“Me neither.” The alpha says with a smile and Louis feels his heart rate pick up again.

So they walk back to Harry’s cabin in silence the rest of the way. It’s a comfortable silence, surrounding the two of them in a way that makes Louis feel somehow closer to the alpha than he’d felt before.

When Harry’s arm snakes around his waist and his hand rests at the small of his back, he feels good still. He loves being touched by Harry and he loves everything about _Harry._

They walk inside and skip right past the little den area and go straight towards Harry’s room. Louis might like to play the innocent card, but he can understand what going back to someone’s place after a date means as well as anyone else.

Their eyes met for a moment and Harry reached up and touched his cheek. “I think you might be the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

“I don’t think you’ve looked in a mirror recently, then.” Louis says with a little laugh. Harry grins down at him and lets his hands go to his hips. Finally, _finally,_ then, the alpha brings their lips together in a gentle kiss that makes Louis entire body feel like it’s lighting up.

“Do you want this, Louis? I have to know you do.”

“Yes, please. I want – I want you to touch me. You make my head spin and I want this with you so much.” Their foreheads are touching now, and Louis feels Harry’s scent all around him – he feels safer and happier and like he’s _home._ It’s such an odd feeling, but he let it take over. It feels so good to let go and it feels even better to know he doesn’t have to worry anymore. He isn’t worried about Harry hurting him, he realizes. Harry’s the first alpha he’s ever trusted with everything he has and he thinks, just maybe, that Niall might have been right. Maybe this was all some fluke of fate that brought them together because he’s so – he feels like everything is falling into place as their lips slot together and Harry’s hands touch the skin of his stomach beneath his shirt. “Can we – bed?”

“Of course, love.” Harry lifts him and he seems like he has absolutely no problem doing it and it makes Louis’ head spin all over again. His entire brain is already just _HarryHarryHarry_ and he still wants _more._ He isn’t sure it’ll ever be enough.

The alpha sets him down on the bed and kisses him again, rougher this time as the purpose begins to settle in. Their scents are mixing together in the room as arousal and excitement makes them stronger. Harry’s hand moves up Louis’ thigh, gentle, fleeting touches that make Louis’ heart race.

The alpha undoes each button on Louis’ shirt, revealing each inch of skin with a gentle kiss pressed there. Louis can’t find it in himself to do anything but watch how _his_ alpha works so carefully, so gently, to make sure he feels taken care of and he feels like his entire world is slowly clicking into the exact place where he was meant to be.

The material is finally gone after a few more moments and tossed to the side and Harry pulls away just a bit as he looks over Louis’ body one more time. “You’re so beautiful.” He repeats, and Louis flushes. He isn’t sure if it’s his inner omega that’s really enjoying the praise and the compliments or if it’s just how Harry says them so sincerely that makes him feel like every word is true, but for the first time in his life he feels like he _wants_ to take a compliment as it is.

“Thank you.” He chooses to say and goes to tug on Harry’s shirt as well, fingers fumbling with the buttons until the alpha gets his hint and undoes the material himself, tossing it to the side along with Louis’ clothing. The kiss this time, when their lips meet, feels like it finally has a _solid_ purpose. He knows, finally, that it’s a kiss that will lead to sex. Harry’s skin against his own feels wonderful, just the right amount of warm and comforting and he wants everything Harry is willing to give him.

Harry seems to get the hint, finally, and moves his mouth to the omega’s neck, kisses and sucks little marks into the skin there and into his sweet spot that have him gasping. If Harry’s tongue moves over _that_ spot where a bond mark will be one day, he doesn’t point it out. “What’s this?” Harry asks, though, and Louis’ entire body freezes.

He’d forgotten about his failed mating mark.

“You don’t have to tell me, I’m sorry.” Harry says after a moment. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s okay.” He says genuinely and kisses Harry again, wraps his arms around the alpha’s neck and pulls him closer. That must finally be the hint that Harry needs because he chooses that moment to rut his hips down against Louis’, which makes him moan softly into the kiss. Louis is satisfied like this – he’s happy to be able to hand over his control for the first time in his life. He’s happy to let an alpha take care of him and it’s such a foreign feeling that he doesn’t know what to do with it. So he just lets himself submit.

Harry, of course, seems to notice this immediately and he finally undoes the button on his trousers and pulls them off of Louis’ thighs. He feels exposed in the best way when he’s finally naked in front of the first alpha he’s ever felt this comfortable with. “No pants?” Harry says with a curious tone and Louis’ face feels like its burning under his flush. “Did you expect this, love? My good omega, wanted to make this easier for me?” He preens – and really he would normally take something as _stereotypical_ as his _good omega_ as an insult, but it feels… good. It feels _great_ to be able to take the praise Harry is giving him and accept it.

“Wanted you – thought about it a lot.” He says in a shy voice and Harry, scoots down the bed and mouths at Louis thighs. Excitement builds in his stomach as he thinks about what’s happening – about what’s _going_ to happen. He’s going to have sex with _Harry._ The most beautiful alpha he’s ever laid eyes on and he’s so, so ready. When Harry wraps his mouth around the head of his cock suddenly, Louis grips at the sheets and gasps, his back arches. He’s _never_ heard of an alpha giving head before – never heard of an alpha putting a dick in their mouth – because he’d always heard they thought they were better than that. His heart swells because Harry doesn’t seems to care about that – in that moment it seems like the alpha is only focused on his pleasure and it makes everything so much better for Louis.

“Nn, Harry. Feels good.” He says through a labored breath and watches the alpha sink his head down over his length. The alphas hands are planted firmly on his hips, holding him down and keeping him pliant, but that’s really the only sign there of Harry’s dominance. Louis loves it. He loves that fact that Harry is so willing to break that alpha stereotype.

He doesn’t stop, either. He keeps his mouth moving and bobs his head quickly until Louis is certain he’s dripping all over the bed. Then – unexpectedly – a finger prods at his hole as Harry sucks at the head of his cock. “Oh, god. Harry I’m – gonna come.” He says, but the alpha doesn’t stop. Instead, he presses his finger into Louis’ hole and that pushes him over the edge, has him shouting out Harry’s name as he comes.

“Beautiful.” Harry says again, right after he finally pulls his mouth away from Louis’ cock and sticks his tongue out to catch a stray drop of come. Louis thinks that looks better than anything he’s ever seen.

“You really are something else, Harry Styles.” Louis says with a tired laugh. “Will you fuck me now?” Harry waggles his eyebrows and kisses Louis softly this time, brushes a few strands of hair out of his face and just looks at him for a few moments.

“I could, but I think I want to make you come one more time before I do. Do you want that?” Louis swallows as he feels the excitement in his stomach once again and nods. “Words, love. I want to make sure you’re okay with everything I’m doing, always.”

“Yes, Harry. I want that.” Harry smiles and lets himself sit on his heels as he stays at the foot of the bed. He takes that moment to push one of Louis’ legs up so it’s touching his chest and pushes two fingers back inside of him. Louis lets out a breathy moan and lets his eyes fall shut, lets himself get overwhelmed with the pleasure, just on that perfect edge of too sensitive and not enough at the same time. Then Harry crooks his fingers in _just_ the right way and his back arches again and his eyes fly open as he moans. “Oh, god. There – right there.” He says, fisting at the sheets beneath him as Harry’s fingers stay in that spot, rubbing relentless little circles that make his toes curl.

Every nerve ending in his body feels like it’s on fire and he can’t help the moaning, writing mess he’s become on the bed as Harry doesn’t let up. He can already feel his second orgasm coming and he’s not sure he’s ever come twice in a row so quickly outside of heat, but his toes curl and his head falls back against the pillow breathlessly. “I’m gonna come again, H. God, nng,” He sees white when he comes that time, and fucking _Harry_ puts his fingers right into his mouth once Louis has come and sucks his slick from his fingers like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.

Louis isn’t sure why that’s so incredibly hot, but _fuck all_ it is.

“I think – I think I need a second.” He says breathlessly. He feels boneless, laying there. Every worry he’s ever had feels like it’s completely out of reach as he lays there, fucked out and unable to think about anything but how amazing the smell of their scents mixed together in the room feels surrounding him. He realizes, suddenly, that he wants to be like that forever. He doesn’t ever want to smell his own scent alone or Harry’s alone – he wants them to be together, inseparable, and he isn’t sure how he could ever put that into words. Or if he even should.

“Take all the time you need, love.” Harry says softly and sucks a few more marks into his neck. It’s all making Louis’ head spin. He doesn’t want to think, though. He wants to let all of this take him away to the place where he feels safest and he wants to be able to let go.

“Kiss me, please.” He says softly. For a moment he’s not even sure Harry’s heard him, but then Harry is close to him again, their foreheads pressed together and the alpha kisses just the tip of his nose.

“Anything you need, always.” And then he kisses him and – yeah. Louis doesn’t want this feeling to ever end. He wants to live in this moment where everything is happiness and bliss and nothing could ever hurt him. He wants to stay in this moment where all he can think about it Harry and how wonderful it would be to have the rest of his life with him and he wants to think about how much he’d love to do this all the time. He definitely wants to think about how he’d love to be able to feel this press of Harry’s lips against his own every day for the rest of his life.

“Okay, okay. I’m ready – please.” He says, breathless again. He can feel how hard Harry still is against his hip and he takes a moment to appreciate Harry’s self control, and then he preens under the fact that Harry really does just want to give him what he needs. He didn’t rush anything to chase his own pleasure, instead he made sure Louis was the center of it and made sure he was happy before he even thought about himself. Louis isn’t in love – not yet – but he realizes that he could be, and he could be _very_ quickly.

It doesn’t even scare him.

Harry slowly pushes into him, and Louis swears he sees stars. It’s slow, and he can feel the drag of each inch inside of him and against his prostate until Harry bottoms out. He can already feel that slight, slight tug of his knot against his rim when the alpha pulls out and moves his hips quickly to fuck into him, but it’s not enough. It’s that same line of too much but not enough that has him gripping at Harry’s biceps, finger nails digging into his skin as each of his thrusts hits right onto his prostate. Harry keeps making these little grunting noises that make Louis’ stomach feel tight and he moans breathlessly, little ‘uh, uh’s’ coming from his mouth with each thrust from the alpha. Then – _finally_ he feels the catch of Harry’s knot.

“ _Please.”_ He says softly, and Harry seems to get the hint as he presses back inside of him quickly and his knot fills to it’s full size, locking them together. Louis finally comes for the third time as the pressure goes completely against his prostate once again and he falls back, completely boneless and breathless to the mattress.

“I’m gonna move us a little, kay?” Harry says and moves them to that Louis is cuddling with him, both of them on their sides. Louis shifts himself just enough so his nose is pressed against the part of Harry’s neck where his scent is the strongest.

“’M sleepy.” He says and Harry threads his fingers through his hair once again.

“You can sleep, love. I’m sure you need it now.” Louis smiles and lets his eyes fall closed. He falls asleep feeling safe and loved and cared for in all of the ways he’d always dreamed of.

 

When he wakes, Harry isn’t inside of him anymore and he glances at the clock. He wasn’t out for more than an hour, and he shifts into a more comfortable position. His fingers find that same spot that Harry had questioned and trace the scar. He isn’t ashamed of it anymore. Not at all. It’s a part of him – it helped him grow, helped him gain that sassy side of him that’s so uncharacteristic of omegas. It helped him learn to differentiate between the bad alphas and the good alphas and it helped him learn that bonding _can_ be the omega’s choice, too.

So he decides to tell Harry.

“It’s a failed mating mark.” Louis says into the darkness. He isn’t even sure if Harry is awake, but when he feels the alpha flinch, he realizes that he is. “There was this alpha who I’d decided to let help me through one of my heats and we had an agreement prior for him to _not_ bond me under any circumstance, since I was only seventeen.” He pauses, Harry’s fingers start running through his hair and he feels safe. He feels like he can tell the story without bursting into tears. “I didn’t want it, I wasn’t ready to bond at the time and my body knew that, so it failed. My heat ended immediately and it left the scar. It used to go all the way down to my heart, and my pack doctor said it was lucky that I lived, because most failed bonds on the omega’s end will shock their heart so badly that they have a heart attack.”

“Thank you for telling me that, Louis. I promise I’ll never betray your trust in any way even close to that. I would never hurt you. You mean a lot to me already.”

“You mean a lot to me too, Harry. I trust you so much it’s crazy and – I don’t know. You make me happy.”

“You make me happy, too. Sleep now, love. I’ll be here in the morning.”

“Good night, Harry.”

 

 

** Day Five **

“Alright, so, you know… I do have a job I’m supposed to complete with you, right?” Louis asked when they were still in bed, neither really ready to get up and face the day. Harry was threading his fingers through his hair while Louis laid his head on Harry’s bare chest. They were both still completely naked, but Louis had never felt more comfortable. He’d never felt as secure in his body around anyone as he did with Harry. Harry made him really believe that he was beautiful.

“Yes?” Harry asks with a quirked eyebrow. Of course Louis was smart enough to know when someone was trying to avoid something, but he really had to get this done. And the more of it they did now, the more time they’d have to spend together without him having to worry about it later. It was really just a win win situation for the both of them, so he couldn’t really imagine why Harry kept wanting to put it off.

“Do you think we could just… finish that up today so we can spend the rest of your days here just spending time together? I feel like if we just knock it all out now, we won’t regret it later.” He really did want to just get everything done now. Perhaps once they did, they’d just have the rest of the days to have days like yesterday. Louis was starting to get slightly stressed over what he was going to have to report back to Liam because he was certain Liam would be able to come back and handle work within the next five days. So, he’d definitely expect Louis to have his job done.

“Yeah, sure, I guess.” Harry says with a small smile. “I suppose I can say I trust you enough now, yeah? So, sure.”

“Alright. I’m gonna run home and get fresh clothes and my files and then I’ll come back, okay?”

“Do you want me to walk with you?” His heart skipped a beat. Something about having an alpha take care of him and want to watch over him and make sure he was okay made him feel good. Just another omega thing, he assumed, but that didn’t mean it didn’t feel really good. He loved that Harry made him feel all of these things. But he knew he couldn’t voice this, especially when they’d only known each other for less than a week.

“You don’t have to. It’s not too far.”

“I don’t mind. Then I can get my morning run in, too. I’ve been kind of neglecting it since I’ve got here.” Louis just rolled his eyes but nodded. If Harry wanted to walk with him, he didn’t mind all that much. His mum probably wouldn’t yell at him until Harry was already gone, so, he wasn’t going to let himself worry about that, either.

They walked the entire distance until they were outside of Louis’ house. Harry smiled softly. “This is a really nice place.”

“Yeah, it’s nice. Fits all of us in there nicely.”

“You have a lot of siblings.”

“Yeah, seven.” Harry’s eyebrows shot up and Louis just grinned. “But I should go, my mum might be slightly angry since I stayed out for a while without telling her.”

“Your mum still gets mad at you for that?”

“Yeah, it’s an omega thing. She’s just worried about my safety is all.”

“That makes sense. But I will see you soon, right?”

“Of course. Don’t miss me too much!” He said with a smile and watched as the alpha walked away. Then he went inside.

As soon as the door closed behind him, he could already feel it coming. Both of his parent’s hard gazes were on him and his mother had her hands on her hips. He was definitely in for it. “Where the _hell_ have you _been?!”_ His mother shouted.

“Honestly, I’ve been out with an alpha. He’s taken me on a few dates and kept me busy, and we got caught up past curfew then I just crashed with him.” He said with a flat voice. He was an adult, after all. The only thing keeping him from getting a proper place to stay for himself at this point was the fact that most tenants still wouldn’t let an omega sign a lease for themselves. His parents both seemed shocked, but his mother’s eyebrows were raised and she looked like she was trying to think of something to say but couldn’t.

“Was that the alpha, then?” She finally said after a moment.

“Yeah.”

“Who is he?” She asked and motioned for him to sit.

“His name’s Harry Styles. He’s –“

“ _Styles?”_ His father cut in, “As in, the soon-to-be alpha of another _pack?_ Louis, what the hell?” He could see the frantic confusion in his father’s face and he had no idea what to say or how to make him feel any better, so he just shrugged.

“I don’t know, dad. It’s not like I meant to enjoy spending time with him, you know? He’s just – he’s so great. I like him a lot already.” He said softly. It was true. His attachment with Harry was already there and it was definitely only going to keep growing with the more time he spent with the alpha. He wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good or a bad thing just yet – but he wanted to consider it a good thing.

“What are you expecting out of this, son? He’s an alpha of another pack, you’re just a pack member from this pack. You two – pack alphas don’t have serious relationships with omegas who aren’t from status, Lou. Please don’t get your hopes up or anything, okay? Just don’t get your heart broken.” Louis hadn’t really thought of that – but then again, they had slept together the night before… So.

“I’m not going to, dad. It’s – I just like him a lot and who knows. Maybe you’re right and he’ll leave in five days and forget about me, or maybe something else will come of it. But I do like him an awful lot. I’m just going to go shower and stuff, though, cause he and I have some work stuff to do.”

“ _Work stuff?”_ He heard his dad ask as he ran up the stairs. His father must not have put two and two together and realized that he was working with Harry, but now that he knew, he couldn’t take it back. He didn’t mind, though. It was best to be upfront with his parents because if he wasn’t, they’d just figure it out later anyway.

 

Within an hour, he was all dressed and ready and had a bag with his papers and he was on his way back to Harry’s cabin to speak with him again. Nicholas was standing outside, though, smoking a cigarette and leaning against the outside wall. Louis was a little surprised to see him, but he still gave a friendly smile and wave. “Hello, Mr.Grimshaw. Good to see you again.”

“Hello, Louis.” He said and tossed his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out with his foot. “I need to speak to you.” Louis furrows his eyebrows but walks over to the alpha anyway.

“Sure.”

“Who’s Liam Payne?” Louis’ heart skips a beat. “Because I believe _he’s_ the pack relations representative, yes? So who are you?” Louis blinks a few times and stares at the alpha. He’s caught. He knows this is the end and he’s fucked over, really, but he decides not to make this worse on himself.

“Alright. You’re right, I’m not Liam. He’s my boss, but his omega went into heat the first day he was expected to meet with you. He asked me to come here in his place and when you first asked me – I just. I panicked and didn’t know what to tell you or how to tell you my real job, so I just agreed. I really, really didn’t mean to lie. I’m so sorry.” He said the last bit softly – but he was caught. It was too late and the apology probably didn’t matter much, if at all. The alpha sighed softly.

“I understand where you’re coming from, Louis. I do. I knew something was up with you from the beginning, so I’ll let my pride let you stay, just because I knew I was right.” Another soft sigh. “Harry doesn’t need to know. When the both of you part ways in a few days, he can return with me to our pack and nothing of this will ever come up again. You won’t tell him, I won’t tell him.” Louis didn’t like the fact that Nick didn’t consider there would be anything between he and Harry after these ten days, but it was probably the best to think like that. “Its not like it really matters in the grand scheme of things, it’s just a job, right? You seem to be doing a good enough job, so, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“Um, yeah.” Louis wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Go inside, go do your job or whatever it is you kids have been doing the last week.” Louis nodded and went into the cabin. Harry was sitting on the couch, shirt missing and phone in his hand. Louis didn’t allow himself to stare or even look at him for more than a few moments.

“Will I ever come in here and find you fully dressed?” He asked with a giggle, and Harry finally looked up.

“Probably not. It’s much worse when I’m home, believe it or not. I’m more clothed than usual for Nick’s sake, since we’re sharing such close quarters.”

“How kind of you.” Louis said with a grin. Harry winked and patted the side of the couch beside him.

“Come sit with me.”

“Okay.” He said with a smile and sat with Harry. “No crazy plans for the day?”

“Nope, not today. I was just thinking we could watch a movie or something along those lines, since Nick has forbidden me from taking the car for the entire day.” Louis nodded and smiled.

“We’re still working on this file when the movie is over, though. I haven’t forgotten about that.”

“My clever omega, knows when I’m trying to trick him out of something.” Louis laughed to hide the way he felt a surge of heat run through him when Harry said _my omega._

 

They ended up eating dinner in, spaghetti, and talking for a long while once again. Louis _had_ managed to finish that case and weasel in the final questions Liam had given him, so now they were free to do whatever they wanted for the rest of Harry’s time in his pack. Something like excitement flourished inside of his stomach when he thought about that – about five days where there were no responsibilities placed on top of them.

A part of him hoped they could have sex again or go on another date or something along those lines – but another part of him really was just so happy over the fact that they were able to spend time together at all. Nick had put that idea in his head that he and Harry wouldn’t be anything beyond this week – but he felt that that was wrong just because of the dynamic between he and the alpha.

“Lou?” He heard Harry ask and looked up. “You alright? Looked like you were kinda… thinking pretty hard there for a second.”

“Nope, every thing’s fine. I was just thinking about some stuff. Nothing bad, though.” He said with a smile and let himself enjoy it when Harry returned it.

“Alright.”

 

They wound up in bed together again that night. They had sex again, and it was just as wonderful. Harry’s sweet whispers in his ear as he came and how he took care of him afterwards, well, it all made him feel incredible. He felt safe and loved and cared for in a way he’s never felt before.

Harry made him feel things he’d never felt before, and he didn’t even want to run from it.

 

 

** Day Six **

Louis went home the next morning and he was sick. The second he was home and in his own room, he ran into his bathroom and knelt over the toilet to throw up. His first thought and incredible _fear_ was that he was pregnant. So, he double checked that he’d taken every day of his birth control and – thankfully – he had. So he wasn’t pregnant. Just sick.

“Mum.” He whined, walking downstairs and getting a glass of water.

“Oh, dear. You look terrible. What’s wrong, love?”

“I just threw up. I feel ill.” She cooed and pet her fingers through his hair.

“I’ll get you some tea and crackers. Go on back up to your room and call your work and make sure they know you won’t be coming in today. Mothers orders.” She said with a soft, caring smile and it made Louis smile too. “I’ll bring you some medicine once you’ve got some food in your stomach as well. I think you need a rest day.”

“Thanks, mum.”

“Of course, love. You may be an adult, but you’re still my baby, alright? Never forget that.” He just laughed a little and nodded before he went off to his room and laid back down. He still felt awful. His head was pounding and his stomach ached, so he grabbed his phone.

With a soft sigh, he dialed Harry’s number and let it ring until he got an answer on the other end.

“Hello?” The alpha said on the other line and Louis let his eyes fall shut just for a moment, trying to relax. He still felt like his entire body could shrivel up at any moment.

“Hi, Harry. I don’t think I’m going to be able to come see you again today because I’m really not feeling well. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, that’s okay. What’s wrong?” Louis smiled – he felt like Harry actually cared and wasn’t just asking because he felt obligated to do so.

“My stomach and my head, mostly. Nothing serious, though. Don’t worry.” He knew alphas had an odd tendency to overly worry about omegas when they were ill or in danger – and he didn’t want that from Harry. He didn’t want to be seen as the omega that needed help or needed to be cared for.

“Can I bring you some soup later?” Louis couldn’t help the little bubble of laughter that came from that. Harry was so sweet.

“If you’d like.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then, Lou. Text me every once and a while, yeah? Just let me know you’re alright and all that.”

“Why do you care so much?” Louis asked, but there was no malice in his voice. It was asked innocently enough that he figured Harry would answer honestly. He hadn’t even really meant to ask, just because he was naturally far too bold for his own good it seemed to slip out.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I just feel like I need to care for you, need to make sure you’re okay and stuff. If you think I’m being overbearing you can tell me, it’s alright. I don’t want you to feel like it’s necessary for me to do this – cause it is your choice and –“

“Harry.” Louis said softly. “I think it’s sweet. If you want to – court me , or whatever this is – I’m not going to deny it.” He heard the soft relieved exhale and smiled again.

“Okay. Get some rest and drink plenty of water. Try and feel better.”

 

Louis decided not to think too much of it when Harry came to his room later that day and tapped his shoulder to wake him. He opened his eyes, sleepy haze still over his head. “Hi.” He said softly and Harry smiled.

“Hello, love.” Harry said and sat on the side of the bed. “I brought you some soup. Are you hungry? If not, I can just warm it up for you later.” Louis sat up against his headboard and nodded his response. “Alright, good.” The alpha said with a smile. Louis knew that alphas had this sense of protection over omegas, especially the ones they were courting. He wasn’t really even sure if that was what was happening, but he was just glad he had Harry here to do this for him. It felt better coming from an alpha than it felt coming from his mother. “Here, budge up just a little bit – “ the alpha said and Louis sat forward a bit and felt Harry stick a pillow behind his back. He hummed appreciatively. “There. Now here’s this.” Harry handed him a cup of soup once he’d taken the lid off and a spoon to go with it. Then he was threading his fingers through his hair again, moving it away from his eyes and tucking the longer strands back behind his ears.

When he was done, the alpha took a cool rag and placed it on his forehead. Louis hadn’t even realized how much he’d wanted that until he got it – and it was the exact same with how he felt about Harry when he laid down and cuddled with him.

“Aren’t you going to get sick?”

“No. Alpha immune system and all that.” Louis rolled his eyes, but he was fond.

“Okay. Good. Cause I don’t know if I would have let you leave anyway… you’re warm.” Harry laughed a little.

“I think you need to rest some more, love. You seem awfully tired.” Louis just nodded and let himself drift off. He wasn’t sure why this alpha chose him to be this omega he was going to take care of and he certainly wasn’t sure why he’d gotten so lucky with everything Harry had done for him and how kind he was, but he let himself thank whatever higher power or fate there was out there that was controlling everything happening in his life, because it was all pretty great.

 

When he woke up later, Harry wasn’t in bed with him anymore, but he could hear voices outside of his bedroom door.

“Yes, ma’am.” He heard Harry’s voice. “I care about him quite a lot.”

“I’m glad you do. I think he needs someone who cares for him as much as I can feel you do. Please don’t hurt him, though. If you don’t intend for this to be serious, please just tell him right away.”

“I don’t intend to hurt him. I would never do anything to harm him on purpose.” Louis let that thought put him back to sleep with a wide smile on his face.

 

 

** Day Seven **

When Louis woke the next morning, he was alone, but he felt better. His head wasn’t pounding and his stomach felt like it wouldn’t kill him if he actually stood up or like, took a breath. So he’d improved and that alone was enough to make him feel much better already. He crawled out of bed and went downstairs to find everything – _quiet._ It was strange.

As much as he loved his big family and his siblings, the silence was incredible. But it also made him nervous. His first thought was that something had gone wrong or he’d given some kind of killer bug to everyone in his family and they were all dead and he started to panic. It took a few moments for him to calm himself down and he walked into the kitchen. There was a note on the fridge that finally let him calm down.

Lou –

Went to grab brekki and groceries with the kids. I wasn’t sure if you were feeling up to going or not, so we decided to just let you sleep. Hope you’re feeling better love and text me and let me know if you’re going to work or not – mum

 

He smiled at the note and put on a kettle for tea for himself before sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs. It was only just past eight, so he wouldn’t be expected at Harry’s until almot eleven, but he decided to send the alpha a text anyway. Just to be nice.

_[Louis 8:07am ]_

Hey! I’m feeling much better, so I’ll be able to spend the day with you if you’d like x 

 

He kind of regretted how personal it sounded, but there was nothing he could do now. It was already sent. His tea started to steam so he poured the water over his tea bag and sat at the table and scrolled through emails until it was all gone. Harry didn’t respond, so he assumed the alpha was either asleep or just didn’t feel like he needed to respond.  
Louis wasn’t worried about it.

Of course not.

 

Harry responded around two hours later with a smiley face and three party emojis, though, so Louis decided that he’d worried for nothing.

 

“Alright, tell me a secret, then.” Harry said with a little smile and Louis rolled his eyes.

“A secret about what?”

“You. Tell me something no one except you knows.”

“Hm,” Louis started and bit his lip, “One time, in year eleven, I kissed another omega.”

“Scandalous.” Harry said with a little chuckle and Louis laughed.

“Tell me something about you.”

“I’m not quite sure it’s much of a secret, but I’d quite like to kiss you right now.” Louis bit his lip a little harder and felt his face get warm. He wished he didn’t flush as much as he did when he was shy or embarrassed, but Harry always seemed to bring that out in him.

“So kiss me then.” Harry grinned and they kissed for a while, just lazy touches of their lips and Harry’s fingers running through his hair. “You want to know another secret?”

“Of course.”

“I like you quite a lot.” Harry’s grin made him feel like his insides were melting – and he loved it.

“You know, I like you quite a lot too, Louis. You really are something else.” They fell into a comfortable silence after that, Louis leaning against Harry with the telly playing something in the background that he was trying to pay attention to but failing – and Harry’s gentle touches and skims of his fingers against his back. It was the most comfortable he’d been in quite a long time, and it was the most comfortable he’d _ever_ been with an alpha, so he was content.

 

Louis wasn’t sure when or why he’d fallen asleep, but when he woke up, there was a blanket draped over him and he was still on the couch in Harry’s cabin. It smelled like there was food in the kitchen and Louis couldn’t help but smile. After a few minutes of letting himself lie there and relax, he got up and went to the kitchen to find Harry bent over the stove cooking something.

“You’re cooking again?”

“Yeah. Hope you don’t mind chicken?”

“Not at all.” Louis sat at one of the kitchen chairs and just watched Harry as he moved gracefully about the kitchen and seemed like he knew exactly what it was that he was doing. “I like it when you cook.”

“I’m not entirely the alpha that thinks omegas belong in the kitchen and stuff like that, you know? I am somewhat traditional in a few things, as you know, but I don’t believe alphas should be clueless when it comes to every household chores.”

“Man, you’d be surprised how many alphas do think like that, though. Especially in this pack. Like, they think we want to cook anymore than we do after we’ve worked the same amount of hours they have. It’s really – I don’t know. It’s really nice to see someone who can deviate from that.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Harry said with a smile.

“You know, we talked a lot about what you expect from your pack’s treatment of omegas, but I don’t think I ever asked what your personal views are. Can I ask that?”

Harry paused and looked over at him and quirked an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah. Sure.” The alpha sighed softly and Louis was suddenly somewhat afraid to hear the answer. “I think – okay, you have to hear me out though, okay?”

“Alright?” Louis said, a little skeptical now.

“I don’t think omegas should be exactly equal with alphas.” A pause. Of course. _Of course_ the one alpha who he could actually stand to be around was sexist. “But it’s just because I understand your – nature. As an heir of a pack, I was forced to take _a lot_ of sex based classes all about alphas and betas and omegas and what makes us act, react, and behave the ways we do. So, I learned a lot about how easily omegas stress and how often they can drop and how much shorter their lifespans are if they’re forced into a stressful environment like the work force for their entire lives. I don’t think you should be cooped up at home all day or be expected to do things for your alpha, but I don’t think you should work more than say, twenty hours a week. So, that’s my personal look on it. I’m sorry if that bothers you.” Louis sighed softly.

“I guess that makes a little sense.”

“What are your views then?”

“I – I don’t know. I haven’t taken the kinds of classes you have, I guess. But from experience I don’t think working creates _that_ much stress. I have a few omega friends who made the decision to not work and they’re mostly just bored and lonely. I think we should just be able to decide.”

“That makes sense, too.”

They dropped the topic after that, but it still left a bit of a sick feeling in Louis’ stomach. Harry was a good alpha, he was. Louis wouldn’t deny that, but his views were so – they were so _against_ the equality that he’d craved his entire life. But at the same time – he did it out of true caring and love for omegas as a species. So, he wasn’t sure what to think.

They ate together and watched another film before Louis wound up back home. Eventually, the thoughts stopped swirling around in his head. He really liked Harry – because he was incredible and wonderful and made him happy in ways that no one else ever had, but he just didn’t know how or what to feel about this entire situation.

When he dreamt that night of having sex with Harry again and had to get himself off at three in the morning, he decided that he still liked the alpha.

****

 

** Day Eight **

Maybe it’s unexpected in the way that they haven’t discussed their business at all. Nick had gotten used to them wondering off and doing ‘business’ by themselves at this point. So, when they finally got their time alone each day, it just felt natural. But, it was a weekend now. Saturday night and Louis was ready to ditch that persona that he was a never-casual business man who pushed papers all day and did nothing other than talk jargon. Maybe Harry knew that wasn’t all he did, but he hated that there was that chance that that was what Harry thought of him.

So when he found the alpha in the place they’d agreed to meet in, he basked with the thought of Harry oogling over his skin tight jeans and red shirt. (“Go with the red shirt, Lou. He’ll fall for you immediately.” Niall had said. He’d listened, of course, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that it would world. Well. He didn’t expect Harry to _fall_ for him – but he expect some kind of show of attraction.)

He leaned back against the brick wall of the building by the little lake and stared off into the distance. The moon was out bright and full and he was happy. It was only just passed six, so they would be able to enjoy almost two hours of the night together – and maybe if Harry was willing they’d be able to spend a little more time together, too. It was just – Louis was intruiged with the alpha. Maybe he had gone against his own morals and ended up falling for an alpha he barely knew, but he couldn’t help the desire to want to get to know him better. It took over all of his thoughts and made his head spin with the thought of getting closer with him.

He’d heard that this kind of immediate reaction was somewhat rare, but he wasn’t going to think much about it. Rather, he was just going to wait it out and see if Harry would make the first move. If the alpha decided to make the first move then he wasn’t sure if he’d deny it or not, though. He’d done just as much thinking about the consequences that would entail if he did fall for Harry. Would he have to leave his own pack? Would Harry’s pack accept him with open arms if he were to go join them, or would they consider him an outsider and never welcome him properly? Would be able to adjust to their differences even though there seemed to be so many? There were a few things like that that he had a tendency to over think – but for now, he was trying to just focus on that moment. If he stayed there in that moment and let himself enjoy the present without any worries of a future that might not even happen, he knew he could have a damn good time.

His eyes met Harry’s when the alpha arrived. He was just on time, perfectly punctual and arriving at exactly 6:05 as they’d planned. Louis loved that – loved a person who wasn’t late. It was something about the disrespect of tardiness that had actually turned him off from a few dates in the past. If a date was even just five minutes late, he’d leave. They weren’t worth his time if they weren’t going to respect his.

He couldn’t help but smile at the way Harry looked at him. Perhaps the alpha thought he was being sly, but Louis could see the lust deep in his eyes as he stared over the tight material clinging to his skin and holding tight to the assets of his body that he liked to show off. “You look good.” Harry said softly.

“Thank you. You do, too.” Louis said with a shy smile.

It wasn’t really a date, so to say, but it wasn’t a formality either. Perhaps they were just friends that were hanging out and letting themselves be free. Maybe Harry knew that nothing could ever happen between them because of their different packs and maybe Louis knew that too, but he also knew that he _was_ going to enjoy this night and there wasn’t going to be anything that was going to stop him from doing exactly that.

“We should go over there, just sit by the lake. I used to do that when I was little and let myself think, you know? It’s kind of… calming.” Harry’s smile was infectious. Those same dimples that had captivated him from day one were so prominent whenever he looked at the alpha that it was overwhelming sometimes. He wasn’t really sure what to make out of the fact that it felt like Harry was almost always smiling whenever he was looking at him.

“That sounds really nice, actually.” They walked, side by side, until they reached the shore of the lake where Louis used to sit and they both let themselves relax against the warm spring air and let the calm float between them. “You know, you’re so different from any other omega I’ve ever met.”

“Hm? How so?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at the over-used line. He wasn’t sure what it was about alphas that always seemed to want something unique – but he’d gotten used to asking what about him was so unique. It usually put his dates in their place and made them quiet down the cheesy lines. But Harry was still smiling and didn’t look like he didn’t have anything to say, so Louis was intrigued.

“You’re so… captivating, really. I know this seems like something every alpha says, right? But you’re just – truly something I’ve never experienced before. You have this air to you that shows everyone how confident and sure and caring you are. And you’re so passionate about your work and you have this little high-pitched tone in your voice when something starts to make you somewhat angry and you get this little look in your eye when you talk about something you care deeply about and it’s so amazing to me. I want to know so much more about you because you really do interest me.” Louis was stunned into silence. His mouth was open slightly and his face was hot under his blush, but he let it happen. There was no shame, he felt nothing bad about letting Harry talk him into a blush and his natural omega-like shyness.

“You amaze me, too, Harry Styles.”

“Mm, how so?” Harry tossed back at him with a wink and Louis rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know. You’re not a typical alpha. You don’t act like one – don’t act like you’re all that better than I am. You like – I don’t know. You have this understanding feeling about you and you just seem to make me feel safe when I’m around you instead of threatened like a lot of other alphas do. It’s hard to explain, I guess.”

“You’re sweet, Lou. I appreciate that.” They’d gotten closer together since they first sat down and everything suddenly felt warmer. He could see Harry’s lips so much clearer, could see the way they seemed to soft and had a sudden desire to kiss the alpha. He wasn’t sure where this was coming from – he’d never really bonded with an alpha as well as he was doing with Harry and it was almost unnerving. But Harry made it feel alright, made it feel natural and _normal_ to behave in the way he did.

It seemed like Harry could read his mind in that moment. The alpha leaned forward, a smile on his lips but movements hesitant, and pressed his lips softly against Louis’. There weren’t sparks – no, Louis didn’t have cheesy emotions like that – but he certainly wouldn’t deny that he felt a strong connection with Harry. He could smell him so much clearer at that distance, could take his scent and let it envelope him in that comfort that Harry always seemed to bring him.

“I know you’re not working right now, but can I explain what I said to you a few days ago? I know it hurt you, and I’ve been trying to think about ways to explain myself.”

“I… yeah, I guess.” Louis says softly. He isn’t sure why Harry would want to bring up something negative and ruin their mood, but he decides to let it happen. He’ll let Harry take the night wherever he feels it needs to go.

“When I said I wanted omegas to be homely creatures, it wasn’t because I think you’re inferior. I really, truly hope you know that. I know in your pack, you have that decision, right? You can choose if you want to pursue a career or if you want to stay home and care for a family or just stay home and enjoy life.”

“Yeah.” Louis says softly, hesitation in his voice. He already isn’t sure if he likes where this is going, but he’s decided to listen already, and he doesn’t want to change it. He might as well hear what the alpha has to say.

“I want that because I want to keep my future omega safe. I want them to feel taken care of, protected, loved, _cherished._ I certainly wouldn’t want someone I love, whose entire nature goes against the idea of being stressed out and working conditions that could separate them from their alpha. I’d want any omega I loved and cared for so much to call my life-mate to be comfortable all the time – to never have to worry about money. Not because they’re incapable, but because they shouldn’t _have_ to stress about things like that. I’d want every omega, not even just mine, to be able to go with their true nature and be able to have a stress free life where they can be happy.” Harry pauses. He’s staring out at the moonlight reflecting off of the lake now. “I respect that you can enjoy your job, Louis. Of course I do. I think it’s incredible that you _can_ do it without an alpha there to take care of you, because I’ve seen working-class omegas in packs across England fall into omega-space and die because of the stress placed upon them from their daily lives. And that’s something I’d never want to see. From my omega, or from _anyone’s.”_ Louis is smiling, then, and lets himself think over the words that the alpha said. He hadn’t really had a chance to let Harry explain his views before, because he’d left so quickly after that.

But now it made sense. He knew it was somewhere deep within an alpha’s nature to want to take care of their omegas and any omega and keep them safe and protected, but he hadn’t realized exactly how deep it went. He could see the compassion in Harry’s eyes when he spoke and it made his stomach turn with a deep care that he hadn’t had for anyone in a long time.

“I think… I think that’s a really incredible way to look at it, Harry. I hadn’t ever really thought of that.” He exhales softly. It’s in a brash, sudden decision, then, to lay his head against the alpha’s shoulder. It’s an intimate gesture, something that omegas are known to only do when they’re accepting an alpha’s court, but he isn’t sure what he really means by it.

He doesn’t think Harry has been courting him, but maybe his instincts are telling him something different.

“Louis?” Harry asks.

“Hm?”

“You know… I really do care about you. Over the last week I’ve – I’m not sure. I formed this connection with you that I don’t think I’ve ever had with anyone else in my life. And it’s insane, I think, because we haven’t known each other long at all. But would you – like, would you want to maybe try and go out some time?”

“That was an awfully long winded way of asking me out, Harry.” They both laughed softly, but Louis was smiling, especially when he said, “I’d really like that, though. I would.”

So they spent the next hour sitting there, letting the conversations flow naturally between each other. They laughed and joked and talked about serious things and eventually, they’d managed to just lay back and lie on the ground.

Louis had his head on Harry’s chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart as the alpha ran his fingers through his hair. It was comforting, beyond anything he’d ever felt before. Harry was telling a steady stream of stupid jokes that Louis found endearing, and he couldn’t help the happiness that was blooming in his chest.

Maybe he could be happy with Harry one day.

“Lets see… how do fish get high?”

“How?”

“Seaweed!”

Louis stops, suddenly, mid-laugh, when he feels it. It’s that achingly-familiar ache in his stomach that he knows will soon set him off against Harry. He – _can’t._ Harry has this concerned look on his face and Louis knows he needs to leave now – before he can’t think of actual words or motions or anything besides that urgent desire to be knotted.

“Harry, listen.” He says softly, and the concerned look on the alpha’s face deepens. “I really – I need to go. I’m so sorry.” He says and stands, gets up so fast stars dance across his vision and takes off. He’s grateful for the sense of direction he still has, but he knows it won’t last long. One of the worst side effects of being on suppressants is the speed that a heat really does hit when it comes. There’s nearly no warning, none of the typical build up of sensation in his stomach that he would get if he didn’t suppress his heats.

Instead, he gets a tight wound up feeling in his stomach and within ten minutes he can barely walk. It’s something he could probably prevent if he had better suppressants, but anything like that was much too expensive and really, just not worth it. He normally was ready for his sudden-heats when they came. His came every third month, but he assumed being around the new alpha who he was actually somewhat attracted to had a reaction with his body and set it off early.

So. In short, he’s fucked.

“Lou – did I do something wrong?” Harry asks, coming up behind him and gently grabs his wrist. That’s all it takes – just a simple touch and Louis is set off. He crumples to the ground and buries his head in the crevice between his thighs, pulls himself into a ball and tries to breathe. The heat is overwhelming, it starts in his stomach and builds up to set each and every one of his nerves on fire until he feels like he’s about to burst into flames.

Finally, Harry seems to get the point.

“Oh, shit.” The alpha says softly. “Okay, okay. I’m gonna take you home, alright? It’s okay. You’re okay.” Louis nods; he’s still coherent enough to know that Harry is speaking to him and he’s still able to understand words, but it won’t last long.

“Please just – call my mum. She’s – in my phone. She’ll tell you how to get to my house.” He grits his teeth as Harry scoops him up from the ground into his arms. He can’t tell if it’s intentional in the way that Harry positions him with his nose pressed against the spot of his neck where his scent is the strongest or not, but either way he’s grateful. It calms his body down enough to at least slow his heart rate down, helps him feel his fingers and get over that initial panic he has through every heat when his body realizes there won’t be an alpha there to take care of him.

It’s rather unfortunate, because he knows he’ll hate himself for taking advantage of this moment within a few days, but he decides to do exactly that: take advantage of this moment. He’s certain this is the closest he’ll get to anything intimate with this otherworldly alpha, so he decides there’s nothing wrong with this.

He isn’t sure how much time passes between the walk from there to his house, and he can hear Harry talking on the phone with his mother, and he can hear her voice through the line, too, but he doesn’t pay attention. Instead, he closes his eyes and tries not to focus on the burning sensation taking over his body. He doesn’t want to focus on that – doesn’t want to think about the onset of his heat because then he’ll only get more and more desperate for Harry. That would really only lead to disaster in the end.

When they do reach his house, he’s on the edge of begging Harry to help him, but he bites his tongue. The alpha hasn’t said a word to him the entire time, but he can feel the tense stature in the way he holds himself. As the walk had gone on, he could feel the way it got harder for Harry to control himself, could feel the way his breathing went from normal to slightly more labored.  
What he didn’t know, though, was how empty he would feel when he was handed off to his father when he got to his house. Being separated from the comforting feeling of being surrounded by an alpha was almost devastating to his body and mind alike, and he flinched when he heard Harry’s growl in response to the instinctual whine that came from the back of his throat.

He was slowly slipping into that place of heat that made him unaware. It wouldn’t last long, just the first few hours as his body adjusted to the feeling, but he was ready for it. Now that he was safe at home and away from the public eye and the embarrassment of looking weak in front of Harry, he was ready to let himself fall into that place where nothing mattered.

So he did.

As he was laid out on his own bed and heard the door click shut, he let his eyes fall shut and let the darkness take over and fell into that comforting place where there was just _nothing._

 

But, it was just his luck that Harry would be there when he woke up. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times before he tensed up. “Oh, God.” He said softly, his body immediately reacting to an alpha being so close to him. “You – you’re – Harry _please._ You can’t – be here right now.” He says through gritted teeth, his body denying the words. But Harry is just looking at him with that same worried look as before.

“It’s okay, Lou. I’m not going to touch you unless you want me to. I just – wanted to make sure you’re okay.” Louis can see how dilated his pupils are, can see how _hard_ the alpha is through his pants, but he was only here for his wellbeing. He can’t even put it into words how grateful he is that Harry is willing to wait for his permission. Something about that makes him preen, makes him want to stay and let Harry help him and bond him and _keep_ him. But he can’t. He can’t – can’t.

He feels like he’s going to throw up, but he takes deep breathes and hopes that the feeling will go away. It’s just the pain that he’s used to having when his body knows he isn’t going to let him have an alpha help him through it.

Suddenly, there are tears falling from his eyes and Harry wipes them away gently and runs his fingers through his hair.

That made his inner omega swell with happiness, made him want to submit immediately. But he couldn’t. He didn’t really want to show this side of himself to Harry at all. The comments from before were ringing through his head all over again – _if you were my omega I don’t think I’d want you out like this._

It doesn’t matter that they’ve already had sex. It doesn’t matter because this is _heat_ and this is what makes him look his weakest. He doesn’t like to look weak and Harry’s words from before ring in his head and he can’t handle it anymore. Being reduced to just an _omega_ makes him feel sick. It’s the very, very last thing he’s ever wanted in his life and maybe that’s why he’d never felt safe letting himself open up to an alpha before. He whines low in his throat, an instinctual reaction to feeling weak and unsure and Harry immediately pulls away. He can see the strain the alpha is putting on himself – how he has to calculate every single move to not touch Louis – but he doesn’t let himself think about it.

He can’t just let himself be reduced to this weak, heat driven omega. It’s too late, really, to redeem himself. But he refuses to make it worse. “Please,” He says through a sob – “Just leave.” Harry nods and stands.

“Just make sure you drink some water, I left you some. And I’ll – bring you food, too, if you want?” Louis closes his eyes and nods. Then he hears the door close and only then does he let out the real sob he’d been holding back. It went against everything in his nature to resist an alpha who was willing to help him and who he really, somewhat, wanted to help him. But he couldn’t – he just _couldn’t_ let himself be seen like that.

The heat under his skin was getting overwhelming – as it always did when he first woke up from his initial dip into omega-space, so he kicked off his trousers and pants, threw them across the room, and wrapped a hand around his cock. It was four quick, dry strokes that brought him to his first orgasm – and the dust settled a bit.

He felt like he could breathe, even if just slightly more. The smell of Harry was still all over his room, all over his shirt, all over _him_ and he couldn’t – he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about the alpha as he brought himself over that edge another time.

This wasn’t his first heat – and he certainly wasn’t new to it. He’d been getting them since he was fifteen, and when he was seventeen he’d gone on the suppressants that made him get them only a third of the time he should have. Four years he’d been going through this and he’d never needed an alpha to get through them before, so he knew he could do it again.

He reached under his bed and pulled out the box labeled _heat kit_ and tossed the top off. He grabbed his lube and his vibrator, then tossed the box to the side. There were a few of the emergency blockers in there, but he really didn’t constitute this little situation as an _emergency –_ didn’t feel like his heat was something that needed to be stopped just because he had been in front of Harry - so he let those go toppling along with the box.

He stroked himself off slowly this time, with a palm full of lube and let himself take the chance to enjoy it. The first day was usually his most cognizant day, the only time he could really appreciate the pleasure that heat brought him. It would be different if he had an alpha – he’d be more aware each time he got a _real_ knot, but for now this would just have to do.

If he moaned out Harry’s name every time he came for the rest of the three days he was heat stricken and incapable of thinking of anything but sex, well, it wasn’t really anyone’s business.

 

When he finally walked down to his living room after his three days of unexpected absence, the very last people he expected to see sitting together were his parents and Harry. Harry didn’t seem very happy, either.

He stared down at the alpha as he hesitantly went down the steps. “Hey, Lou.” His mum said with a gentle smile. He loved her in the way she didn’t let things be awkward after anything happened. He’d experienced heats before where his father had been the only one home when he went downstairs afterwards and it had just been eerily silent. His mother always seemed to strike up a conversation. It made him feel welcome, like he was still a part of the family even though he’d just been fucking himself for the last few days.

He could only imagine what his dad thought about that.

Maybe it wasn’t too terrible since his mum was an omega, too. But he could imagine.

“Hey, mum. Hey dad, Harry.” He grabbed a piece of cinnamon toast and popped it into the toaster and leaned against the counter as he waited for it to heat up and come back out. It was a bit of a ritual. Perhaps a stupid ritual that had no purpose, but he’d always eat cinnamon toast when he was done with his heat. Every time, every single heat since he was fifteen had ended with two slices of cinnamon toast.

He joined the three of them at the table after a moment. Harry still didn’t look particularly happy and it made him feel somewhat sick to his stomach. Of course he knew it was just the oversensitivity he’d have for the next day or so while he was recovering from his heat, but, it still hurt nonetheless.

“We set up a bit of a date night down at Frosty’s for you and Harry.” His mum said with a smile, squeezing his hand gently. It was incredibly rare for his mother to approve of an alpha, so he assumed she was just trying to convey that – trying to say that she approved without having to say that outloud. “If you’d like, of course. If you’re still too sensitive or whatnot, it’s fine, love.”

“Um.” He says softly. “Sure. I’ll um – I guess I can go get ready.” He says softly, already breathless. Harry’s eyes meet his for the first time directly since he’d come downstairs and he can see two things: the first, his pupils are still blown wide which makes his entire body scream at him to submit. The second, his face seems more emotionless now than angry. He can’t tell which is worse, but he goes upstairs anyway and pulls on some decent date clothes.

 

They’re walking when Harry comes to a stop and sighs. “Louis.” He says softly and the omega can’t help the whimper that comes from his throat in response to his tone. It’s humiliating, and his eyes widen. Harry doesn’t react, though. Just stands and lets Louis stop walking right beside him. “When were you going to tell me? Were you even planning to tell me? Were you just going to keep letting me think you’re someone you’re not? What – what even _was_ this whole thing? Was any of this real? Did I waste my time?” Louis blinks a few times and takes a deep breath. Maybe he knew this was coming all along, but he didn’t want to face it. “I got a call from Liam Payne this morning. You know, the _real_ pack relations coordinator. He apologized that his _assistant_ had to take his place and fill me up to speed over the things _he_ and I would be discussing when he returned tomorrow morning.” Harry seemed beyond angry and Louis wanted to run away. “What? I don’t – I don’t understand. Why would you _lie?_ You – what else is a lie, Louis? What else am I missing here? What else is a lie?”

“Harry – “

“No, don’t speak until I’m done, _omega.”_ Louis whimpers again, that dammned instinctual reaction. Harry’s pupils are flared again, blown wide and covering almost all the green in his irises. “I thought – you know I really, genuinely thought I was going to fall for you. I saw that potential that I could want something with you in the future – I cared enough about you to practically _torture_ myself and sit there with you, a docile omega in heat and wait. To make sure you were okay.” The alpha swallows hard. “So, here’s your chance. Explain yourself. I don’t think we’ll ever recover from this, because I’m going to go back to my pack and forget about you, Louis. That’s the truth. I don’t think I could trust you enough to let anything flourish from this anymore.” Louis isn’t sure why he’s crying, but he can’t help it.

“I didn’t – I didn’t mean to lie.” He sniffles. “I was just – I wanted to be taken seriously, Harry. I’m always second guessed, always put aside and listened to second behind an alpha because any alpha’s ideas are better than an omega’s, right?” He swallows and wipes the tears away from his face with his sleeve. “It just – I was given this job by Liam – and I did it. But then I realized how great of a person you are and I realized that you had this – this _respect_ for me that I assumed you wouldn’t have if you didn’t think I was in a position of power and I –“ He stops himself. “I know I messed everything up, and I’m so sorry. But please, please know that the only thing I lied about was my job. Everything else, all my feelings, everything else was entirely _me.”_ He takes a deep breath and looks at Harry. The alpha doesn’t look at him and Louis is almost certain he can feel his heart breaking.

“I wish I believed you.” Harry says softly. “But I don’t. I’m sorry I made you think this was really going to be a date night, but I just wanted to ask you these questions away from your parents. I’ll walk you home to make sure you get there safely, but after that, Liam will be finishing my case. I don’t expect to see you again.” Louis doesn’t let himself cry, doesn’t respond to the alpha. He just stares at the ground and tries to keep his emotions at bay. All he has to do is keep them contained for the next five minutes, enough to get him home and away from Harry so he can show his emotions without looking like a mess.

So as soon as he closes the door behind him when Harry walks away, he lets himself cry. It’s not even _crying –_ it’s heavy, deep sobs that he can’t even pinpoint the cause of. Maybe it’s the pain of the rejection, or maybe it’s the fact that he saw a future with Harry, too, but he’d ruined that.

When his mother comes over and picks him up and speaks to him but he can’t hear it, he doesn’t think much of it. Instead, he lets himself go to sleep. Something in his head is screaming to sleep, to let go and relieve himself of this stress, so he gives in.

He can hear the worried words coming from his parents, but he doesn’t think about that. He lets the calm in his head take him and lets the darkness come without complaint.

It’s the kind of drop he’s never experienced before, but it’s not as scary as he thought it would have been. A _true_ omega drop can only be caused by stress and usually only relieved by an alpha, but he doesn’t think about that, either.

 

 

** Day Nine  **

Sometime during his drop, he dreamt.

It was a happier dream, a memory more or less, from when he didn’t let his secondary gender define him or his actions or his thoughts. Those were the days that often revisited him in his dreams. Perhaps it wasn’t that the society around him mocked his gender or what he was, but he liked to go back to the days when _he_ didn’t. When he didn’t torture himself day on end and worry about what others were thinking when it was so unnecessary to worry about. The days where he worried about things that were so simple, like what he wanted for dinner.

In his dream, he was younger, sometime in the early years of his secondary school when he was still surrounded by his friends who hadn’t presented yet. Almost everyone knew, really, what they would present as, but it didn’t bother them. There was always the fluke chance that someone would present as what they didn’t expect, which could have been a good reason that none of them worried about it back then. He and Niall had known they’d be omegas. Some of their friends knew they were going to be alphas, one of them even knew she was going to be a beta. It wasn’t uncommon, then, for people to be able to spend time together without even having to question it. Louis had based it off of the fact that he was smaller than almost everyone, that he had a nice arse, and that he had more of the feminine, curvy features. So, he’d known.

So, letting that transfer into his adult life didn’t feel like a problem.

He didn’t want to admit that it could be a problem, really. So within his happy dream of a time when he wasn’t embarrassed by his body or the thoughts that people wouldn’t listen to him because he’s an omega, he let himself drift away.

But eventually, he was pulled back.

He could feel the touches against his back, gentle circles rubbed through his shirt. There were words being whispered in his ear, too, but he couldn’t really make them out. A familiar, calming scent surrounded him and he felt like it was safe enough to bring himself back up. Something inside of his head decided that, at least.

So, slowly, he let the consciousness flow back into him and let the awareness follow.

Louis wasn’t sure how long it was until his eyes finally opened. He was with Harry – and the alpha seemed concerned all over again. His mum and dad were standing beside the bed, and he hadn’t realized he was on Harry’s lap until that moment.

Everyone just looked at him, as if waiting to see if he was _there_ enough to speak to. He wasn’t entirely sure what they all seemed to concerned about – since he was awake now – but he’d ask about that later. Maybe something had happened. How long had he been down?

“Harry.” He heard himself say. It wasn’t what he’d intended to say, but it was enough. It was enough to say both what he was really thinking and to prove to the people around him that he was there. It felt – it felt _stupid_ that he’d grown so attached to the alpha in such a short amount of time. He’d never believed in soulbonds before this – never believed in a connection that could run as deep as he felt with Harry when he didn’t know someone very well. But Harry seemed to break all of his boundaries, to tear all of the walls he’d built up down. It was strange mostly because Louis didn’t even feel the need to guard himself from it.

Even though Harry had forced his body to go through a rejection, he still didn’t feel the need to guard himself. It felt – it almost felt _freeing_.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Harry said softly, and he seemed genuine enough that Louis let himself calm down enough to believe him. Of course he was still slightly tense from the lead up to his drop, from the argument he’d had with Harry that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to forget for a long time. He felt terrible about it. Lying to someone was wrong enough, but lying to the _one_ alpha he’d managed to create a strong connection with? It was heart breaking. “We can talk later, I’m so sorry. I didn’t – I didn’t mean to drop you like that. I’m so sorry.” Louis wasn’t really sure what to say, so he just nodded and slowly moved himself from Harry’s lap.

Perhaps the distance was better. He _had_ been rejected afterall. If Harry was just trying to bring him back with his scent, he didn’t want the alpha to feel obligated to keep him there.

“What happened? How long was I down?”

“You were out for – the entire night. We couldn’t wake you up or get any reaction from you, so I called Liam this morning and told him you wouldn’t be able to come into work –“ His mum said softly, the frown obvious on her face from the worry. He hated that he’d worried her and hated even more than he couldn’t even remember everything that had happened from the time he’d left Harry and he’d dropped.

“And then Liam called me, because _he_ was going to come here and bring you up, and I said I needed to come here and fix what I did.” Harry finished, and Louis just nodded. He tried not to flinch at the practical _growl_ in Harry’s voice at his mention of Liam coming here and helping him. The possessive behavior made his stomach twist with – something. Affection, perhaps. But he didn’t want to let himself feel that anymore. He had to remember he’d been _rejected._ It was – uncomfortable. He wasn’t entirely sure what any of this meant or what any of this was _going_ to mean.

So he decided that figuring that out would be the first step to feeling better.

“Can Harry and I talk alone for a minute please?” He asked to his parents and smiled when they nodded and left the room. He appreciated that they were so understanding with the things that he needed, even if he could see in their faces how they were still somewhat uncomfortable with the thought of leaving their only son in a room with an alpha alone.

The door closed and the silence was thick in the room. Harry looked over at him and clasped his hands together in his lap.

“I really am sorry. I was angry and – I guess I didn’t even think about what could have happened with what I did. I should have, and it was irresponsible that I didn’t. I’m really glad you’re okay, though.”

“I’m still – I’m really sorry I lied to you, Harry. I know what I did was wrong and I should have been truthful, but I really hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me. I know I ruined – a lot. Probably everything that could have happened between us, but that’s okay. I just want you to know I didn’t ever mean anything negative when I lied – I never meant to make it seem like I was someone I’m not.” Louis’ words were slow and drawn out, since his head hadn’t entirely recovered from his drop, but from the expression on Harry’s face, he seemed to have conveyed everything he felt he needed to. “I think ‘m sleeping again.” Was the only thing he could really get out of his mouth before he felt himself going weak again.

It wasn’t dropping. This wasn’t the same feeling, but maybe it was just the mental exhaustion that came with the drop that he was going through in that moment.

“I’ll be here when you wake up.” He heard Harry say.

He slept soundly, the thoughts of Harry saying that to him more often suddenly taking over his dreams.

 

 

** Day Ten  **

Harry was there, as promised, and he had an unreadable look on his face when his gaze finally met Louis’. “I’m sorry.” Louis chokes out after a moment and Harry’s face softens. “I’m so sorry I lied to you, and I know I should have told you.” He’d said it all the night before, but it all feels hazy and unsure. He can’t remember everything that he’d said to Harry, so he feels the need to say it all over again. He’s sure that he’s ruined everything, though, and he knows that Harry will move on and make a life that doesn’t include him in it. He’s messed up that chance, but he doesn’t want that to mean he can’t apologize. He may have destroyed all the trust between the two of them, but that doesn’t mean he has to destroy his last sense of dignity as well.

“Louis, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you did and … I understand. It doesn’t make everything okay, because it does hurt that you felt that you had to lie to me to make me like you, but I do understand. I understand that you thought I wouldn’t listen to you and honestly, you’re probably right. I probably would have been much more of an asshole to you if I wouldn’t have thought you had some influence at first. So I understand. I just wish you would have told me the truth somewhere along the line. You know, after I already knew how great you were and when we were telling our life stories and when we told each other a lot of things. Why didn’t you tell me the truth about that?”

“Honestly, I just… I forgot. I wasn’t really thinking about it. I wasn’t thinking about how I needed to lie to you to make you respect me anymore, I was just thinking about how much fun I was having since I was with you. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I’m sorry.” Harry moves to sit on the bed with him and puts an arm around his shoulders. Louis isn’t sure why that makes him feel so good, but it grounds him. It makes him feel like everything is going to be all right again and his anxiety diminishes.

“I care about you a lot, Lou. I’ve been talking to your parents a little bit, too, and they said that nothing else you said was a lie. Is that true? Was that truly the only thing you lied about?”

“Truly, Harry. I have nothing else in my life I’d ever need to lie to you about. The only dishonest thing I said was that I had Liam’s job. I mean… I _do_ help with that job… I’m just an assistant, though.”

“I’m not going to just leave you and pretend we haven’t had this incredible connection, so please don’t think that, but I think we will need to work a little bit on building that trust back up. But I like you a lot and like I said I feel like we have this intense connection that I’ve never felt with anyone else before, so I don’t want to waste that because of one mistake, yeah?”

“Thank you so much, Harry. You’re right. I feel that connection too. I’ve never felt like this with anyone else and I was so scared I was going to lose that feeling because I never want it to stop. I feel closer to you than I’ve felt with a lot of people.”

“I always thought that soulmating was just a myth, but you know you really make me doubt that. You’re something else, Louis.” Louis smiles and climbs into Harry’s lap. His head is still foggy and unsure from his drop, but he knows what he’s doing in that moment. He lets his head rest against Harry’s shoulder and breathes in his scent once again.

“So do you still want me?”

“Of course, Lou. I forgive you.”

“Thank you so much.” They sat there together for a long time and Louis felt comfortable again. He’d been so worried that Harry was just going to reject him – to send him off and make him remember the awful thing he’d done – but he was beyond happy he wasn’t going to. There was something in his nature that was just beyond satisfying about feeling accepted and cared about by an alpha. He assumed it was just another thing about being omega – even if he wouldn’t admit it willingly, having that role of an alpha in his life made him feel more settled and calm.

 

He’d been expecting the call, but getting it still made his heart beat fast with the shame and embarrassment he’d been hoping to avoid. Seeing Liam’s name appear on his phone screen made him feel somewhat sick, but he knew he was going to have to grow up and answer it like a functioning adult. “Hello?” He asked, voice small. He really, really didn’t want to get yelled at by Liam. That was one of the worst experiences he could describe, just because the alpha never really seemed genuinely _angry,_ just disappointed. It was wired in his nature to feel even worse when an alpha was disappointed in him.

“Louis.” He could hear it. He could hear the scolding he was about to get and it made him nervous. “I need you to tell me what happened when I was gone.” Louis took a deep breath and chewed on his lip just for a moment before he could explain.

“Well, when I met H- Alpha Styles and Mr.Grimshaw, Alpha Styles was very … hesitant to meet with me and work with me and didn’t really want anything to do with it.” He looked at Harry when he spoke. The alpha had a look on his face he couldn’t quite read, but he wasn’t going to worry about that. “So… When I went back the next day, I took a different approach. I asked him if it would make him a little more comfortable to go outside of a professional setting and just walk around and maybe go out to eat a little when we were speaking. He agreed to that and I figured it was better to be a little unprofessional instead of not getting the job you asked me to do done… So… Yeah.”

“Then?”

“We um, we kind of hit it off a little, I guess? We spent a little more time together than necessary for the job… but I swear I didn’t clock in when I wasn’t working!”

“Louis, you know I’m not asking about that. Tell me what you did and tell me _why_ there are _newspapers_ of you and my _client_ paloozing around a pack you had _no business being at!”_ Louis flinched as Liam raised his voice on certain words and frowned. He wasn’t sure why he’d been expecting to get scolded about lying about who he was – but that was what he’d assumed. Instead, he was getting shit for _that?_ For something he did on his _freetime?_ It wasn’t even in the papers for their pack – for Harry’s perhaps – but not theirs.

“I went with him on my day off.” He deadpanned. “I had your case finished, and I always take Thursdays off. So we went out together, spent a little time together. Like I said, we hit it off.” He was trying so hard not to say something rude to his boss – but he wouldn’t be able to stop it for long.

“Louis, I don’t care what you do with your days off. That’s not what this is about. What this is about is the fact that we are the _relations_ coordinators, we can’t be seen with our clients! I thought you were smarter than that, Louis!”

“You know what –“ Louis’ resolve broke. “I’ve done nothing wrong. _I’m_ not the pack relations coordinator. I’m your assistant. You entrusted me with a job that I _did._ That I did very well and completed in less time than you even anticipated. No one in the pack considers _me_ the PR. That’s _your_ job. So unless there’s something else, I don’t see the problem here?”

“There’s one more thing.” Liam said after that. “You’re to come clear your desk by the end of the work day tonight. I won’t tolerate that kind of disrespect.” Louis saw it coming. Of course he did. He’d never once been so disrespectful to any alpha – and he knew that alphas took their pride seriously. So when Liam said it and then hung up his phone immediately, he didn’t feel any kind of remorse or regret. He just felt… nothing. There was no emotion there. Other than the fact that he really would miss his job and miss having some kind of extra money to spend on himself sometimes. But it didn’t matter all that much.

“That was kind of harsh.” Harry said softly and Louis just shrugged.

“Can I just…” He wasn’t sure how to say it, how to even word what he wanted but Harry seemed to understand, and for that he was beyond grateful. He loved that Harry could understand the things that he wasn’t sure how to say. He’d always thought that that was a good trait in a mate, just because they were more compatible. If a mate could understand what he was saying when he didn’t know how to say it, it meant that had some kind of good chemistry, some kind of connection there that went deeper than he’d thought.

“Of course, love.” Harry said and sat up, so Louis crawled into his lap and let Harry put his arms around him. It felt good – he felt safe. Finally, then, he let himself feel the shame that he’d felt as Liam had scolded him, but it was okay. He knew he wasn’t going to shut down or get too upset since he was there to have Harry’s scent calm him down. He’d done that a lot in his life, pushed emotions away since he was afraid to feel them or too afraid to drop to let himself properly feel anything.

“You’re alright, love. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” Harry said softly and rubbed his hand in circles around his back. Louis nodded, but he still held on to Harry to make sure he really was okay, to make sure he was really grounded and safe.

“I’m sorry.” He says softly but Harry shushes him quietly.

“Don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. There’s nothing wrong with letting yourself feel.”

“I just – I was making something of myself, I was doing something important and now – now I’m unemployed and I have no place.” He sniffled and took a breath.

“Hey, no. Don’t you say that. I know you hate when I say it, and I’m sorry, but you are not obligated to work. In my eyes, you have that choice and you shouldn’t base your worth off of whether or not you work. You should base your worth on how kind you are, or how much you care for others, your morals, your family values, your bright prospects for the future.” Louis let it set in for a moment, let Harry’s words calm him and make him feel better. Maybe the alpha was right. Maybe it wasn’t wrong to let his nature take over sometimes – maybe there was nothing shameful about it. He didn’t choose what his secondary gender was to be, so he didn’t deserve to be ashamed of it. If it made him sensitive and made him need things some others didn’t need – well – there was no reason to really be ashamed of that, was there?

“I love you.” He said softly and Harry kept his fingers threading through his hair. He tensed when he realized what he said – the shame suddenly building back up in his stomach. He’d royally fucked up now, hadn’t he? Admitted he loved someone when he’d barely even known him. He’d known Harry for ten fucking days and he really, really did love him – call it a fluke of fate or biology or whatever – but he _did._ That, however, did not mean he wanted to say it out loud. “I’m –“ Louis said, the panic obvious in his voice. Harry didn’t tense or say anything bad or even say anything at all, though, and it made the panic worse. “I didn’t mean to say that. I’m so sorry.”

“Do you really?” Harry asked instead of criticizing him. Louis swallowed hard.

“Yes. I just – I don’t know. You’re the only alpha I’ve ever been able to really trust and something about you is just – I don’t know. I do, though.”

“You know my grandmother always used to tell me stories about true mates or soul mates and things like that. I think I knew, from that first day I saw you. Our scents matched in a way that I knew only a true mate’s could and – I don’t know. I feel it too, though. I love you, too.” Louis felt like there was a massive weight lifted off of his chest – like he could breathe again and everything was fine. He wanted to stay there and kiss Harry and let him profess his love in every way for the rest of their lives, but he knew there were other things he had to do instead of that.

“Is it weird? Since we’ve known each other for such a short time?”

“I don’t think so, no. I’ve always believed in true mates and I think that it’s natural for our kind to fall in love quick and hard.” Louis smiled and held on to Harry tighter for a moment. “You really do amaze me. I can see a future with you, Lou. I can see you being my mate and carrying my pups one day and I really can see _something_ with you. You’re right when you say it’s a bit soon to think things like that – but you’re the only omega who’s ever made me feel the way you do and I think that’s incredible.”

“You’re the only alpha that’s ever made me feel _safe._ Everyone else makes me nervous. But you – you make me feel safe and cared for and I really can’t tell you how much that means to me because I always feared that I would always be alone because of that. My best friend told me that he thinks it’s fate how we met and got together – how my boss’ omega went into heat the same day he was meant to meet with you and how I was in the perfect right place in the perfect right time to be able to meet you and spend time with you in the way I probably wouldn’t have been able to had all of those events that led up to this not happened. I think that’s the only reason I’m actually comfortable with this short time thing – because this had to be some kind of true-mate fate thing, right?”

“I think so, love.” Louis smiled and let the silence take over after that. He kept his head on Harry’s shoulder, kept scenting him and keeping him close. Eventually his mom walks in and smiles when she sees how close they are once again and he just smiled back at her.

“Glad to see you two are all right again.” She says softly. “There’s lunch downstairs if you’d like?” It’s not really an offer – Louis knows she’d get on his case if he ever said he didn’t want to eat, so he just nodded.

“We’ll be down in a minute.” Louis says and his mother takes that as her dismissal and leaves, but she leaves the door open behind her. Louis crawls out of Harry’s lap, then, and stands and stretches.

“Do you want me to go down to your office with you when you have to collect your things?”

“No, I think I’ll be okay. I assume Liam will want to talk to me again, so I should probably go alone. You being there would probably only fuel his anger further. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know we’re actually … romantically involved. He’s just mad that I was even caught spending time with you.”

“I guess you’re right. Come back to the cabin when you’re done though?”

“Sure. Are you leaving tonight?”

“In the morning.” Louis frowned. “But I’ll come see you as often as I can, yeah? We can always text and call and anything you need. If you ever really need me, I’ll get here as fast as I can.”

“When’s your rut?” He asked and the embarrassment set back in. He was always too bold – always asked questions that were beyond his bounds and unnecessary for him to ask. None of his business. Harry seemed to notice this and chuckled.

“It’s next month. Would you like to spend it with me? You can say no.”

“Yeah. I would.”

“Okay then, love. I’ll plan to come pick you up the day before.”

“Okay.” Harry kissed him again and they went downstairs, hand in hand, and everything felt like it was okay.

 

He went to his old office after lunch. He changed into something a little less than business casual, to make sure it didn’t look like he was as somewhat miserable as he was, and strolled in there with as much confidence as he could muster. Liam was sat at his desk in his office and Louis went straight to his desk, unfolded the box that was tucked under his and started placing his things inside of it. The only things he really had were sticky notes, two photo frames, and a few little nick-nacks. His favorite was his frog stapler, the mouth being the part that made the staple, and then his cat sticky note dispenser. 

“I really don’t understand this, Louis.” Liam said out of nowhere, making the omega jump. He turned to the alpha.

“I’m sorry I was so disrespectful to you earlier, perhaps I could have said what I needed to say more… professionally. But, I don’t think it’s fair that you should be able to or even think you should have the right to limit what I can and cannot do? When you become the pack alpha, I’ll respect those wishes entirely, but there is really no grounds for you to say I can’t be seen outside with Harry.” Liam’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’re on a first name basis with this alpha?”

“Well –“ He paused for a moment and took the box into his arms, both to serve as a signal that he wanted to leave and for something to do with his hands, “Yeah. He’s courting me.” Liam blinked a few times and suddenly his face went soft.

“God. Louis, why didn’t you just – why didn’t you _say_ that? Now it makes sense. You were uncharacteristically rude to me _because_ he’s courting you. You’re attached to him, so you felt the need to defend yourself from being separated from him.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He bit his lip. “It was good to talk to you, Liam. I’m glad we cleared that up.” Liam gave a curt nod and Louis went to walk out.

“If you ever want to work here again, I’d gladly have you back. Just. Sort this thing out first, alright?”

“Okay.” Louis said with a smile. “Thank you. I’ll hold you to that.”

 

 

** After **

Harry leaves and Louis feels – he feels _empty._ It’s odd and wrong and _weird_ because he hasn’t known the alpha well enough yet to be so certain he’s in love but God he really is. He’s more in love than he’s ever been with anyone and his entire body aches with his absence as each of the days go on and he’s _still_ alone.

Harry had warned him that he’d probably feel the effects of their separation after a few days and offered to leave a few of his jumpers, but Louis had rolled his eyes and said he could handle the distance like a big boy. But – of fucking course Harry had been right. Harry always seemed to be right, especially when Louis didn’t want him to be. But he’d give just about anything to be back beside the alpha and be able to cuddle with him again.

His room is cold and he wants Harry to come and hold him so he can warm up and he wants Harry there to make him feel less lonely and he wants Harry there _period._ But he is cold, so he walks over to his closet and digs through his pajama draws and – there’s one of Harry’s jumpers. Louis almost cries. There’s a little note on top of it, scrawled in Harry’s beautiful handwriting.

_Just in case xx – H_

He pulls it on and crawls back in bed, cuddles up with one of his pillows and lets himself fall asleep with Harry’s jumper big and comfortable on his body.

He texts Harry a bit later, when he’s calmed down and he doesn’t feel the terrible effects of being separated from his alpha anymore.

[ Louis – 2:07am ]

_Thank you_

[ Harry – 2:07am ]

_Anything for you, love. Sleep now, it’s very late. x – H_

[ Louis – 2:08am ]

_Call me in the morning?_

 

He doesn’t get a response, or if he does he’s already asleep before it comes in, but when he wakes the next morning to Harry’s ringtone and talks on the phone with the alpha for three and a half hours, well, he feels more content than anything.

 

He and Niall spent a lot of time together in the time he was away from Harry. The other omega had started dating an alpha boy from their school – he was a year thirteen when they were year elevens – but Louis was happy for him. Niall seemed head over heels for this new boy so he was going to support him the best he could. But. He was still miserable not having the alpha _he_ cared so much about with him every moment of every day.

Maybe he was selfish. Or just lonely.  
Whatever.

“You’re pouting again.” Niall said and pinched his nipple. Louis screeched and Niall just laughed, but he knew he was right.

“I know. I’ve been pouty since he left. His jumpers are starting to smell a little bit less like him.”

“Well, aren’t you planning a visit to go see him in like, five days, babe?” He’d forgotten that it was getting so close. Five days! Suddenly, he was smiling again.

“Oh, you’re right! It is only five days. I feel better now.” The other omega rolled his eyes and sighed softly.

“I still really don’t think this is really healthy for you though, Lou. I know you love him and I know how important he is to you, but it’s in our nature to want to be around our alphas at all times. You’re hurting yourself not being around him. You should really just ask Yaser if the two of you can bond already. I think it’s time.”

“We’ve only been together a month and a half, Ni. That’s not – that’s not enough time for the Alpha to allow us to bond. He’d think I was crazy.”

“He’s already going to think you’re crazy, Lou. This hasn’t happened since his mate immigrated from another pack almost forty years ago.” Louis sighed and smashed his face into a pillow. Niall was right, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it. He’d have to ask eventually and he really had no idea if he was going to be accepted or denied. But he really didn’t even know if Harry wanted to bond with him or not. It was a scary thought – because Harry _had_ said he loved him and he had said that he could see the same future Louis could see for them, but that could have changed. Things always seemed to change in relationships – especially since Harry was so much closer to being the Alpha of his pack.

“I’ll figure it out.” Niall hummed his agreement and they wound up just watching a movie together, not leaving Louis’ bed for the rest of the day. Maybe not having a job was boring sometimes – especially when he really just wanted to leave the house – but there were the moments when he didn’t mind so much.

 

[ _Harry – 3:10pm]_

Are you almost ready? I’ll be there in 15. Can’t wait to see you x – H

[ _Louis – 3:14pm ]_

Always ready for you!! Can’t wait either xxxxxxx

 

It was the week that he’d been so excited for, finally, and he was going to get to spend Harry’s rut with him. Ruts were – in Louis’ mind – so much better than heats. The alpha only lost their heads for a few moments, only had that desire to take and follow their instincts for an hour or so at a time, and then they’d come back and all would be well for at least a few hours longer. It made the sex more fun – made it sweeter and less urgent, Louis thought. So he was so, so excited to spend this with Harry.

It only happened once every six months anyway, so, it was probably alright for him to be somewhat excited. He’d found out that having Harry’s complete attention on him at all times made him feel good and cared for. So of course when the alpha was in rut – that would be all he wanted.

There was a knock on his door and he shoved the last of his clothing into his bag and ran downstairs to answer it before his mum did. “Hi, Harry.” He said and the alpha pulled him into a tight hug.

“Hello, love.” Harry said and kissed him softly. Louis hadn’t realized exactly how much he’d missed him until that moment – hadn’t realized exactly how _wound up_ he’d been without having his alpha beside him at all times. Maybe that’s what Niall had been seeing and pointing out. But he felt his entire body relax when he was in Harry’s embrace again – finally – and everything felt like it was in place again. There’d been a few days when Harry was away that no matter what Louis did, everything felt wrong and like something was missing. He’d known it was his body reacting to Harry’s absence, but he hadn’t realized how bad it had been.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, babe. You ready to go?”

“Yeah. Think my mum wants to speak to you first, though.” He said with a laugh. He knew she was hiding out behind the corner and watching their little embrace with happy tears in her eyes. She liked Harry almost as much as Louis did – at least like, in a son-in-law kind of way.

“Hello, Jay.” Harry said, his voice charming and smooth as ever as he pulled her into a hug when she came up to them.

“Hello, Harry.” She said with a soft smile. “It’s good to see you again. But I know you have to leave soon, so do you know when you’ll have Louis back?”

“Most likely within a week. I know the rule is ten days, so it will certainly be before then.”

“Alright, love. Take care of him. And don’t get him pregnant.”

“ _Mum!”_ Louis said, embarrassed. “I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”

“I know, loves. Now get outta here and be safe.” Harry and Louis both nodded and then they were gone. The entire drive, they couldn’t stop touching each other, and eventually Louis wound up laying over the seats and leaning his head on Harry’s thigh. It was innocent, and he liked it like that. He just missed touching Harry and being held and being near him at all – so he thought he deserved this much.

 

When they got back to Harry’s house, he was greeted by the family with open arms and plenty of hugs and _we missed you’_ s from all of them. He wished he could come here more often, really. Of course he did – he wanted to bond Harry and be able to be with him all the time – but his desire was beyond that. He wanted to share everything with Harry, wanted to share even the most domestic and boring aspects of their lives like brushing their teeth in the morning and groaning when their alarms went off and making breakfast and tea and going to bed at night. He wanted everything with Harry.

Pups, one day.

He could see that. He could see having a few little ones running around this space – making it their own and decorating the refrigerator with their drawings and everything domestic and wonderful like that. He wanted it all.

 

By the next morning, Harry was in his rut. It started a bit more innocent than his heats ever did, just Harry being hard when he woke and little grunts coming from his mouth. Louis didn’t wake him right away, just amazed by how attractive and beautiful his alpha looked like this.

He got up and went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and got ready for the day. He figured Harry wouldn’t care no matter what he looked like, but he still liked to look good for him, still liked to make sure he was at his best for his alpha.

When he returned to bed, Harry was still making little noises but he wasn’t awake just yet. “Haz.” He said softly and Harry stirred, groaned a bit and went to kiss Louis. Louis smiled and let him kiss him, let Harry come into his full level of consciousness before he tried to say anything.

“Look so pretty, Lou. My omega.”

“Yours.” Louis said with a smile as Harry peeled the omega’s clothing away from his body, but not even for a moment did his usual gentleness falter. He kissed and touched every part of Louis’ body that had him gasping and arching into Harry’s touch.

They fucked twice, and then Harry was back. It went on like that for the entire week, Harry in and out of his rut and taking gentle care of Louis inbetween each round. He always made sure he was fed well and clean and taken care of and Louis realized that this – this was _definitely_ the alpha he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

When he left, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind.

When he was home for three weeks without seeing Harry again – the loneliness would creep up but he would just remind himself that he and Harry were going to be forever. They just _worked._ They worked so well together that Louis couldn’t even comprehend it sometimes. He loved Harry so much – loved how gentle his alpha was with him.

 

They saw each other about once a month after that, and before long it was getting cold and once a month turned into Louis telling Harry to stay home because it wasn’t safe with the snow on the ground. Each time the alpha would laugh at him with fondness in his voice and say not to worry so much, but Louis would still act surprised and pretend to be cross when the alpha would still show up anyway.

 

Harry was laying beside him – one of the rare days that the two of them could actually see each other in person. Harry was always so busy as he worked on becoming alpha – since his 25th birthday was quickly coming up. It was almost Louis’ 20th birthday – as Christmas was slowly approaching – and the two of them were hoping to make plans to be able to spend the holiday together.

“So, you want to spend three days with me, and I spend three days with you?” Harry asked and Louis nodded.

“Yeah. I think we should both see our families, and that way I can see a little more of your family since I don’t get to see them very often, and my mother can continue to gush over you.” Louis said with a smile. He’d always thought it was funny how much his mother loved Harry.

 

It was a week later when Louis was kissing his mum goodbye for a few days with the promise that he’d be back in three days. He’d be back on his birthday – the day before Christmas – so she could spend that with him. She hugged him too-tightly and then followed up with a hug for Harry.

They left shortly after, the car ride the same amazing experience for Louis as it had been every other time. He’d only been to Harry’s pack about eight times – but it was still one of his favorite things to do. Every time he went it felt like there was something new, something different and more exciting for him to get the chance to experience.

 But this time, everything was closed except one shop. “We close everything up except the gift shoppes for the entire week of Christmas. It’s all required paid-vacation for all members, since we believe that everyone deserves to have one week of the year to spend with their family without stress reguarless of their financial situation. The gift shoppes close up on Christmas eve and don’t open up again until the Monday after Christmas.”

“That’s… really nice. I really like how everything runs here, H. I love it so much.” Harry gives him a bright smile and kisses him softly when the car comes to a stop at a stop light.

“We’re here.” He says a few moments later when they pull up in front of the pack house. It’s a place he’s grown more fond of over each visit, rather than intimidated of, and it’s the same with Harry’s family. They don’t know him very well, but he and Gemma had hit it off very well, and then Harry’s mother loves him, and he and Harry’s father have a few common interests that they’d been able to strike a few conversations up about that made the Alpha like him as well.

Louis hops out of the car and goes to grab his bags, but Harry comes up to him and stops him, places a little kiss on his lips. “Lou,” He says softly and Louis smiles up at him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He says with a smile. They kiss again and Harry takes both of their bags inside. Sometimes he forgets how kind Harry is and little actions like that have to remind him – and each and every time the love swells up in his heart and he almost gets overwhelmed by it. It’s such a wonderful feeling to love and be loved.

The second he gets inside, Anne greets him happily. “Hello, Louis!” She says and pulls him into a hug.

“Louis!” Gemma says from the other side of the room and joins Harry’s mother in wrapping him in a hug.

“It’s lovely to see you dear. How have you been?”

“I’ve been wonderful. Thank you. How about you?”

“I’ve been well. Thank you.”

“It’s great to see you too, Gemma. I like your hair.” He said. She’d dyed it since he last saw her, and she smiled at the compliment.

“Thanks! I thought it was nice.”

“It is. I like it a lot.”

“We’re gonna go put our things away, mum. We’ll be down in just a few.” Harry says, motioning to the bags in his arms and Louis gives a smile before following with the alpha up the stairs. There was a steady stream of snow falling now and he could see it through each window from the home.

Harry kisses him as soon as they get into the alphas room and Louis is smiling up at him. “My heats coming soon.” He says softly. “Two weeks. Will you be able to help me through it?” Harry frowns just a bit and Louis pretends his heart doesn’t break.

“I can’t leave my pack for a week at a time, Lou. I could help you if you came here, though? Would that be possible?”

“I mean, I don’t see why not. I hope so.” Louis says with a smile and Harry kisses him again. “Won’t it be a little awkward, though? Your entire family will like… know… I came here just for you to fuck me through my heat…”

“It’s natural, my love. There’s nothing awkward or weird about it at all.” The omega nodded and smiled again. Harry always just seemed to be that voice of reason when he was uncertain. It was a good feeling to have someone there to reassure him when he really, truly needed it the most. Harry was the only person he’d met who seemed to be able to understand him this well, because no one else ever had been able to. Little things that caused him anxiety, Harry understood that they weren’t just _little_ in his mind and that he needed to feel better about them.

Harry let him embrace that omega side of his nature without feeling inadequate and it was such an incredible feeling.

He went to start unpacking his things after that, hung his clothing up on the hangers in what Harry had deemed as his portion of the closet. It was all perfectly domestic, too, the way that they could just easily enjoy sharing a space without any problems or discomfort coming from it. It made him feel better about a lot of things in his life, made him feel secure in the fact that Harry could very easily become his life mate.

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis waist and pulled the omega close to him. Louis laughed and wrapped his arms around his alpha, too. “We’re going out again tonight, and I know we just got here, but I want to take you out. Is that okay?” Harry kissed the top of his head after his question and his fingers were rubbing little circles on his back.

“’Course.” Louis said with a little grin. He secretly loved when Harry took him out – loved when Harry treated him like he was fragile and important and like he needed to be won over. He’d never admit that, even though maybe the alpha already had an idea, but it made him feel special and loved and – _submissive_ in a way he’d never felt before whenever Harry did little surprise dates for him. “But for now, I promised your sister I’d beat her at poker the last time I was here, so, I do have to tend to that first.” Harry barked out a laugh and kissed him again.

“Good luck with that, love.”

 

By the end of the night, Louis was twenty pounds poorer thanks to Gemma’s incredible poker skills, and Harry had just _laughed_ at him! The entire time! He eventually quit pouting when he’d crawled into Harry’s lap for their family movie (per Anne’s request before Harry took him out) and everything felt like it was perfectly in place.

 

Louis squeezed himself into his best suit, ignoring the little side glances Harry kept tossing at him each time a new piece of skin would be revealed for the alpha to see. “This is why I don’t change in front of you!” He said with a little laugh. “A boy can’t even put clothes _on_ without you getting all hot.”

“You make me hot. Can you really blame me?” Harry said with a dimpled grin and Louis felt his face get hot again. He decided not to say anything else, though, and buttoned his shirt up the rest of the way and pulled his jacket over the top. Then he pulled his pants up over his thighs and buttoned them. “Can’t wait to take those off again later, though.” Harry said and Louis rolled his eyes and threw the sock he was about to put on at the alpha’s head.

Harry just laughed and walked over to Louis. He cupped his chin between his pointer finger and his thumb, tilted his head up, and kissed him again. It was another thing Louis would never admit to, but he did kind of like it when Harry manhandled him like that, made him move in the way he wanted and got him to do what he wanted. “My pretty little omega. You know I’m like, the luckiest alpha in the world, right?”

“You’re a sap, Styles.”

“No, I just love you.” Louis smiled.

“I love you too.”

“Let’s go, then?”

“Yeah, sure.” Harry grabbed his hand and led him downstairs. He even held the door open for him like the gentleman he is. The car ride was short, and Louis was buzzing – as usual – with the excitement for what Harry was going to do for him. He loved when Harry took him out on dates more than anything, loved being able to spend time with the alpha in an atmosphere that felt romantic. It was closely tied with how he felt when he and Harry were able to just act domestic with one another.

“This is called The Cellar.” Harry said with a smile, opening Louis door for him and leading the omega out by holding his hand again.

“Fancy.” Louis said with a grin as they walked inside.

“Good evening, Alpha Styles.” The man at a podium at the entrance said with a friendly smile.

“Good evening, Geoffry.” The two alphas shook hands and the stranger sent Louis a nod of acknowledgement, the unspoken rule of not touching an unbonded omega playing heavily in the air.

“This way, please.” Harry nodded and the two of them followed the other alpha to a table near the back of the restaurant. It felt perfectly secluded, like they were allowed to just be in their own little world with no one there to bother them. Louis keened. “What will your choice of wine be tonight, sirs?”

“Chateau Lafite, please.” Harry said without thinking and Louis just nodded in agreement. He’d only ever had the champagne with Harry as his life’s alcohol intake, so he just trusted that Harry picked something nice.

“Of course. I’ll have that right away.” Harry turned to Louis and gave a little smile.

“This is my favorite place in the world, right here. But it’s even better now, I think, because I have you here with me to make it better.”

“Everywhere with you is my favorite place. You make me so happy, Harry.” There was live music playing somewhere in the background, but it was quiet enough that it wasn’t distracting, and he suddenly understood how much thought Harry really did put into all of these things. He’d chosen a spot right out of eyeshot of the public, knowing of Louis’ slight anxiety of being around alphas who might judge him, then he’d chosen a spot where the music wasn’t distracting, and he’d chosen the kind of atmosphere that made him feel relaxed in only the way Harry could make him feel.

He loved Harry more than words could ever possibly describe.

A waiter came out shortly after and poured two glasses of wine for the two of them. Harry didn’t request that he leave the bottle, so the waiter left with it and Louis couldn’t help but look at the thick-looking red liquid in his glass.

“I’ve never had wine before.” Louis said with a little laugh. Harry smiled again.

“Well, at least you’re starting with the best, then. Pretty sure my first actual alcohol was corner store brand from my of-age friend’s party.”

“Oo, naughty alpha. Drinking before you’re of age.” Harry winked and Louis laughed again. It fell into a comfortable silence then as they both pulled the menus from the table and slowly started looking over the options. Everything was in French, though, so Louis was lost. “What do you like from here, Haz? I can’t… read French.”

“Do you just want me to get you something I think you’d like?”

“Yes, please.” Louis says with a shy smile and the alpha nods and smiles.

 

It wasn’t too long later when their food came out. Harry had ordered him something that he couldn’t pronounce, but when it came out, it looked incredible. So. He wasn’t complaining at all. As much as he loved his pack, they had no need for any extremely fancy or special restaurants, so it felt really good to be able to go out to a fancy place.

“Hey Lou?” Harry said after a moment and he looked up.

“Yeah?” When Harry stood he couldn’t help but quirk his eyebrow and then – _oh._ Oh _god._ He felt his eyes filling with tears as Harry went down on one knee, and he covered his mouth with his hands.

“Louis Tomlinson,” The alpha started, grinning up at him, “I’ve only known you for a little less than a year, but you’ve already changed everything in my life, from the way I see things to the way I feel to the future I’ve envisioned for myself. The future I see now, every single possibility, they all have _you._ So, will you have me as your bondmate?” A single tear fell down Louis’ face and he nodded.

“Yes, yes Harry. Of course.” Harry took one of his hands and slipped a sleek, silver band onto his ring finger.

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“I love you, so much.”

“I love you, too.”

 

Later that night, they slipped into the house when everything was silent and made love until the sun peaked over the horizon and both of them fell asleep, content and happy to think of the rest of their lives spent with the other. Louis knew there was nothing else in his life he could want more. He could see himself with children and a life and everything with Harry one day – he could see himself doing everything he’d ever imagined he’d do with Harry right by his side.

Everything was finally in place.

 

They’re sitting in Harry’s room on the last day at his home, Louis sitting in Harry’s lap and the duvet pulled over the both of them with a film playing. It’s nothing special, nothing either of them were really interested in, so they’d just been making small talk for the entire time it had been playing. Louis loves sitting in Harry’s lap, he’s discovered. It feels even better to have a blanket pulled over him because then he’s warm from Harry’s natural heat _and_ the blanket, and it’s times like this when he never wants to leave the bed.

“Alright, so what do you want me to do for your heat?” Harry asks, and Louis’ face was warm. He hated _talking_ about sex. _Having_ the sex was great and all – but talking about it always left him feeling embarrassed and small. It was a weird feeling, but he knew it was necessary to talk about these things and the fact that Harry _was_ talking about these things only meant that he cared enough to ask.

“Well – um. I know that if I start like, with my dick right away that it starts to hurt worse within a few days, so like, if you could…”

“Make you come as much as possible without touching your cock?” Harry said all of these things with a straight face and Louis felt like the embarrassment was going to burn him up. “Love, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” The alpha kissed at his cheeks softly. “I know talking about sex makes you uncomfortable, but I want to make sure I’m making you feel good and not breaking any boundaries you might have. This is entirely for your own comfort, okay? You know you’re not entirely coherent during your heats so you can’t tell me something is hurting you or making you uncomfortable, right?”

“Right.” Louis said softly.

“So, is there anything you _don’t_ want me to do?”

“Um, no. I don’t – I don’t think there’s anything like, that I don’t like when I’m in heat. I guess maybe just don’t get too rough? I like it kind of rough when I’m coherent, but when I’m out like that, my omega likes it slow and soft and love-y.” Harry smiles softly and nods.

“Of course, love. Anything you want.”

 

They go back to Louis’ house the next day and have yet another Christmas dinner and open one present each. Louis’ family tradition had always been that they open one present each on Christmas eve and then Louis opens two more, as his birthday gifts, and then the rest are for Christmas day. It’s just how every year has always gone.

So they all sit around the tree, Louis leaning on Harry as he watches all of his siblings open their presents and squeal happily. Lottie gets some new perfume and kisses their mum and dad on the cheek and hugs them both. Louis loves his family.

“Alright Lou. Which one do you want to open for your Christmas Eve present?” His mum asks and he chooses the smallest one on the top of the pile. It’s from Lottie, and he smiles.

“I’ll open this one.”

“And, sister of the year award goes to me.” His sister says with a snicker and Louis rolls his eyes. He slowly tears the paper away from the back, peeling the tape away and reveals a little brown box. He undoes the flaps and when he opens it the rest of the way, it’s a photo of him and Harry. His mouth rises into a huge smile when he looks at it and remembers the day so clearly.

It was one of Harry’s first less-frequent visits, but it had been almost three weeks since he’d seen his alpha and the moment he’d first seen him, he’d jumped into Harry’s arms and wrapped himself around the alpha as they hugged each other tightly. He hadn’t known that Lottie had even gotten a picture of it, but seeing the moment captured on film made his eyes fill with happy tears. He turned it towards Harry so he could see too, and the alpha smiled wide.

“I love it, Lotts. Thank you so much.” He says happily.

“Okay, two more for you Lou. Happy birthday.” He nods and picks his other two, one from his mum and dad and the other from Harry.

The first one he opens is from his parents, of course, and when he unwraps it it turns out to be a to-be-claimed airline voucher. “We got that for you with the hope that the two of you would go somewhere, maybe on your honeymoon.” His father says with a smile. “The hotel fare is paid for as well, for one week.”

“Wow, thank you guys.” Louis says and reaches over to hug them both at the same time and kisses their cheeks.

“Thank you so much.” Harry says as well. “That’s a really lovely and thoughtful gift.” Louis smiles because he knows that Harry is being sincere. He loves that things that most alphas would say just to butter up an omega’s parents to sound better are all truly sincere coming from Harry’s mouth.

Then he goes to work on undoing Harry’s gift wrapping. It’s wrapped beautifully in all silver with golden bows around it and Harry’s beautiful writing of his name scrawled on the side in thick, black marker. The first thing on the top is a little letter, so he pulls it out and reads it.

_Louis,_

_First of all, I want to tell you happy birthday and remind you once again that I love you dearly, because you mean more to me than anything or anyone else ever has. You’re the true light of my life and you make everything feel better whenever I think about you. I love how feisty you can be and I love that you don’t fall perfectly into that omega stereotype that everyone assumes of your gender. (Not saying I don’t love when you get all pliant for me, either, but that’s for another time)._

_I know that the distance that often comes between us leaves you not feeling your best sometimes and I sincerely hope that you know how terrible I feel that I can’t be here with you so much more. So, I got this necklace for you, one half of my heart, to remind you that even if we aren’t always physically together, we’ll always be together at heart._

_There’s also a new vibrator at the bottom of the box, so, you probably shouldn’t pull that out in front of your parents._

_All the love, H._

He can’t help the little laugh that bubbles out of his throat when he reads about the vibrator, but then he turns and kisses Harry softly. “Thank you. I love you, too.” Then he takes the necklace from the box and sets the rest, with the wrapping, to the side to prevent anyone else seeing. Then he turns to Harry one last time. “Will you put it on me, please?”

“Of course, love.” Harry says and takes the necklace from him, then fastens it around his neck and clips it. Harry was right all over again. He feels better already, knowing that even though Harry will have to leave soon, he’ll still be with him in heart.

It’s such a wonderful and thoughtful gift and Louis can’t think of much else other than how much he really loves his alpha.

“Okay, H. Your turn to open yours.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything.” Harry says, quirking an eyebrow, but Louis just rolls his eyes.

“Shush and just open it, okay.”

“Okay.” The alpha says with a little smile and takes the box from beneath the tree and turns it over to undo the wrapping. He thought it was kind of funny that they’d _both_ had the same idea of hiding a dirty gift beneath a much more innocent one, but he really doesn’t want to embarrass Harry so he leans over and whispers in his ear.

“Don’t pull the bottom of yours out, either.” Harry quirks an eyebrow but undoes the wrapping the rest of the way. It’s a watch, since Louis knows his last one broke. He’d saved up to get Harry one big gift, rather than several smaller gifts and he smiles when Harry pulls him over and kisses him again.

“I’m spanking you later for spending this much money on me.” He whispers into Louis’ ear. And then louder, “I love you so much.”

 

He goes into heat that night. It’s just as fast as it had been the first time Harry had seen it, the suppressants still making it a real pain in his ass, but this time he feels like it’s all okay. He doesn’t panic, not this time.

“Um, Harry.” He says softly and Harry glances over at him. He knows that it won’t start to scent like heat just yet, probably not for at least thirty more minutes.

“Yeah, love?”

“I’m, um. I’m going into heat.” He says wide eyes. “It’s early, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby. It’s okay. I’m not too worried about going home. We’re already here and it’ll be more comfortable for you to stay here, yeah?”

“We could probably make it back to your house before it really set in if you really need to get home.”

“It’s okay, babe.”

“You alright, boys?” His mother calls from the kitchen.

“Mum, um, I’m going into heat.”

“Oh, okay dear. Do you two need anything before you go upstairs, then? Make sure you take some extra water up there and I’ll bring the two of you something to eat in the morning.” He loved how easy it was to handle heat with his mother. He could remember the times when he’d have to go to his grandparents’ house when she’d get her heats, so maybe that was a part of it, since she’d already been through this part of her life, but really, she was just a wonderful person.

“Thanks, mum. I think we’re fine though. Happy Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas, Lou. Happy Christmas, Harry.”

 

“It’s not set in yet.” Louis said, sitting back on the bed when they were up in his room. He was already a bit sweaty, and that slight tingle under his skin that he got with his heat was slowly making itself obvious, but he didn’t need anything yet. For now, all he wanted was for Harry to hold him. “Cuddle me for a bit?”

“Course, love.” Harry sat beside him and Louis went to lay down, followed by Harry who wrapped his arms around him. He was faced away from the door, Harry holding him tightly, surrounded by an alphas scent, and he felt at peace. This was his perfect, instinctual desire. To be cared for, held, and protected by his alpha. Harry seemed to pick up on this, and he started stroking the omega’s hair softly. “My good boy. You’re so good for me, aren’t you? My sweet boy.”

His alpha always knew when he needed to hear some kind of praise, when his omega didn’t care what was really being said to him, but all he really cared about was being told he was good and everything was okay. It wasn’t often that he would get like that, though. Really, the only time it happened was during his heats and right after they had sex, so maybe Harry had just gotten used to what he needed.

They laid like that for a long while, at least for an hour, until Louis’ heat really set in. The aching need settled in under his skin and suddenly he wasn’t just warm – he was _burning._ A soft whimper left his throat and Harry ran his fingers through his hair again. “You need me?” Harry asked softly and Louis nodded.

“Please. It’s – it’s bad this time.” Some of his heats were worse than others, mostly because of the pills, and Harry gave him a sympathetic look in response.

“Okay love. I’m here. I’m going to help you.” Louis nodded a few times and let Harry pull his clothes off, let the alpha do whatever he wanted because he knew it would help. For that moment, he was still coherent enough to feel the love and affection that he had for Harry and the appreciation that he had for how he was being so good and gentle in how he was helping him.

He’d be coherent enough tomorrow, too, but he knew better than anyone else that within an hour, he’d be a begging mess that couldn’t think of anything other than the word _knot._ So, he just let himself fall into it.

It was the first heat he’d experienced where he hadn’t fallen into an omega space before it really set in, as well. He knew that was because Harry was here. He knew it was because Harry was here and he was going to help him and because he loved Harry.

Harry fucked him, gentle but just the right amount of soft that Louis was sated and satisfied when he was finally able to just sit in Harry’s lap while his knot was still keeping them locked together. His alpha was whispering sweet nothings into his ear, and he let them take him away into his safe place. For the first time, when he drifted away during his heat, he just saw his life how it was. Nothing changed. Harry was still there, holding him and telling him how good he was and he wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

 

The months went by after that, Harry came out almost every week, and before long, it was Harry’s initiation to become his pack’s alpha. Louis knew, logically, that he wouldn’t be able to come and visit him anymore, at least nowhere near with the same frequency, and he knew it was time. It was time to ask his Alpha permission to bond with Harry.

Perhaps he’d been putting it off, waiting and waiting until he _had_ to ask – because it was terrifying. He didn’t want to have to go to his superior and ask if he could love someone. It wasn’t normal. Every other couple just bonded when they found it right, but instead he had to go and ask permission.

He understood, of course. He understood that it wasn’t so much that he was asking permission to bond with Harry – but he was asking to leave the pack. As soon as he bonds with Harry, his attachment to this pack will fade unless that bond is broken and that’s why he has to ask. He was born and raised here, lived here his entire life, and some people might consider it being a traitor to want to leave, but he can’t help it. He wants to leave and follow his heart and fall in love and have a house full of babies and love Harry the best he can. It’s all he wants.

So he decides to just suck it up, to force himself to gain the courage to ask his Alpha if he can leave and mate with Harry.

But of course he has to ask his parents first, so he decides all of this can wait until tomorrow.

 

When he wakes the next day, he’s already nervous. He knows he needs to go and ask, and he knows that it _is_ going to happen today, but he still hasn’t quite built up that confidence. So. He calls Niall.

“Hello?” The other omega says and Louis can’t feel anything for a brief second except the relief he feels that he can actually vent to his best friend. Then the nerves set back in and he feels like he might throw up again.

“Niall.” He whines out on his end of the line. “I’m so – I’m so fucking _nervous._ I feel like I might actually explode because you’re so right, what if he does say no? I love Harry so much and I don’t know what I’ll do and all I want is to be able to go and bond him and I don’t know what to do because asking permission is so hard and it’s so scary and help me, god. I’m freaking out.”

“Lou, you’ll be okay.” Is what Niall says. “If he says yes, you’ll be free and happy and able to live your life out how I know you want to.”

“And if he says no?”

“Well, if he says no, your family and I will be here with you every step of the way to help you deal with it. I know that would probably be the hardest thing for you to ever experience, but I really doubt he’s going to say no. So, it’ll be okay, Lou.”

“I hope so.”

“Now go. There’s no use worrying about it when you don’t even know the answer yet!”

“Okay, Ni. You’re right. I’m going. Thanks for letting me vent.”

“Course, babe. Call me and update me later.”

 

He showers and gets dressed in his nicest business-casual clothing he can find, just enough to feel like he’s more dressed up than usual but not so much that he’s wearing a full suit. He doesn’t even know how he’s supposed to dress to talk to his pack’s Alpha, but he decides that he can’t think about that too long or else it’ll just become another distraction to get himself to stay home and not go ask.

He really, really wants to ask. It’s just – he’s always run away from his fears. When something scares him and he doesn’t want to deal with it, he’s always just pushed it to the side and let it leave him alone. Obviously, doing that with this wouldn’t do him any good, so he knows that he just has to alpha up and get on with it.

The entire walk there, he’s sweating. His palms sweat so much that he has to rub it off on his jeans and each time he does, the sweat seems to come back faster than the time before. But he goes all the way and he’s greeted at the door by someone who obviously works for the house.

“Hello.” He says softly. “I’d like to speak to Alpha Malik if possible?”

“Come in and sit, please.” The man – a beta – says and he walks in and sits where he’s offered. “Can I have your name?”

“Louis Tomlinson.”

“And what would you like to speak with the Alpha about?”

“Um –“ He pauses, rubs a sweaty hand over the back of his neck.

“It’s alright, thank you for letting him in.” He hears a voice say from the bottom of the stairs. “I know why he’s here. Follow me up, Louis. Lets go chat in my office.” Louis isn’t sure why that makes him feel so much more nervous than he had been before, but he’s here and he can’t back out now.

“Yes, Alpha.” He says softly and follows the man up the stairs and into a small room. The Alpha goes and sits behind his desk and Louis sits in the chair he’s offered once again.

“Do tell me, Louis. How good of a pack alpha would it make me if I wasn’t aware of what my omegas were up to?” The Alpha says and Louis suddenly feels small. He feels caught, like he’s been caught as a child with his hand in the cookie jar and he’s about to get a scolding. It’s obviously a rhetorical question, but the Alpha is starting at him like he expects an answer, so Louis swallows.

“I um – I don’t know, Alpha, sir.” Yaser gives a soft smile, but Louis still feels like a deer who’s been caught in headlights.

“The answer, Louis, is I would be quite a terrible Alpha.” He sighs softly. “Please sit down.” Then the Alpha motions towards the chair beside Louis and he sits, but everything feels a bit like it’s in slow motion and he can’t help the sour taste in his mouth like he realizes everything is going to go bad. It’s all going to backfire in his face and everything Niall said is going to come true and nothing is ever going to work out in his favor and he’ll live a long, lonely life without ever getting a mate and he’ll get thirty three cats instead.

He can already see it.

“I know you’re here to ask permission to leave the pack and bond with Mr.Styles, and I know that you’ve wanted this for several weeks, and I know that you’ve been a rather frequent item with Mr.Styles for longer. So, I’m going to let you tell me your side of the story. Convince me, Louis. Because right now, all I see is a love-blinded omega who is putting himself in danger by leaving home and bonding with an alpha who he doesn’t know very well.” Louis takes a deep breath as he thinks about the words and how to arrange them in his head. He’s thought about how he would ask the question, but he’d never, _never_ imagined that the Alpha would be a step ahead of him like this.

“With all due respect, sir, I know Harry more than I’ve perhaps known anyone in my entire life. We’ve only known each other for a little over a year, but even just the first week I knew him I knew I could spend my entire life with him. My best mate, Niall, said it could possibly be some kind of fate induced soul bonding – with the coincidence of your son’s heat coming early and leaving Mr.Payne incapable of handling Harry. That all led to me meeting him and at first – at first I thought everything was just friendly. Of course it all seems that way at first for everyone, I guess, but then we talked and I realized that everything he said to me and everything he did to me made me happy. He makes me feel safe and happy and he feels like a – a _home_ to me. I don’t – I wish I knew how to explain it better because I’m sure this is the least convincing thing you’ve ever heard, but I just. I love him so much.” He says and looks to the Alpha once again. It’s a bold move, but he decides to take it anyway. Few people have direct requests to the pack alpha, and even fewer can ask them face to face. “Please, sir, please grant this request for me. I want nothing more than to bond with Harry.”

The Alpha is quiet for a long while, and then he lets out a soft sigh. “You remind me of my son when he found Liam. He was – he described Liam in the exact same way you’re describing Mr.Styles right now and that does give me some hope that you’re not just love-blinded. But you do have to understand where my hesitancy is coming from, do you not? You understand that as a member of my pack, your safety is my top priority. Especially as an omega of my pack. My goal here is to be able to protect you, to keep you safe and out of harm’s way and I can’t do that anymore if you decide to leave my pack.”

“I understand fully, sir. And I’m grateful that you care for my safety, but I genuinely think you have no reason to be concerned for me.” Yaser sighs again and Louis braces himself for the no. He braces himself for the heart break and the despair he knows he’ll feel if he gets that answer that he never wants to hear. He knows the Alpha can feel all of these emotions coming off of him, but he doesn’t change his facial expression.

“I’m sorry Louis, but I’m not going to allow you to leave with him.” The Alpha finally says. Louis had prepared himself for that rejection, for that intense pain, but he still can’t stop the tears that fall from his eyes, then. It’s too sudden and he can’t feel anything other than the ache deep inside of his chest.

“Oh.” Is all he can say. “Alright. Um, thank you for your time.” He says softly and stands up, but everything feels like it’s moving slowly. He wants to run to Harry and he wants his alpha there to comfort him, but he _can’t._ He walks out of the little office he’d met the Alpha in and practically drags himself out of the house, down each step, and he starts his walk home.

Everything feels like it’s in slow motion, and he feels like it would be appropriate to toss himself into a ditch. “Louis!” He hears a voice shout from behind him, but he can’t identify it, he can’t hear much else than a ringing in his ears as he focuses on the pain in his chest.

The owner of the voice’s hand wraps around his arm and he finally turns to face the man. He blinks a few times when he realizes that it’s Zayn – the pack Omega and he furrows his eyebrows. “Hi.” The omega says and offers a kind smile. “Come back with me. I’m going to help you.” Louis’ brain doesn’t catch up with the words for a few moments, but when it does, he nods and lets himself get led back to the pack house by Zayn.

The Omega leads him back inside, back up the stairs, and back into the same office. His arm is still in Zayn’s grip. “Dad.” The Omega says and Yaser quirks an eyebrow. “I’m giving him _my_ blessing to go – you don’t – you don’t understand what it’s like to be an omega in love like this and I don’t think it’s fair that you’re keeping that from him. So he has _my_ blessing and I’m deciding not to care what you have to say about it unless you agree with me.” Yaser quirks an eyebrow and his gaze moves back to Louis.

“You’re not to listen to him, Louis. He has this tendancy to forget who’s in charge here, and I don’t think he’s thinking of the legal consequences you _or_ Mr.Styles will face if you go against my word.”

“Think about what mum would say, dad. You _know_ she would want you to let him go.” Yaser’s face hardens.

“I said _no!”_ He shouts and Louis nearly falls over. Zayn doesn’t seem affected and perhaps that’s just because Yaser is his father, but Louis feels like he might actually throw up.

“Liam will be a much better alpha than you are, dad. I hope you know that.” Zayn says with a sneer and Louis feels like he’s caught in the middle of something that should be a private, family affair, but Zayn’s grip on his arm only tightens and he can’t run away. He isn’t sure what to do.

“You really shouldn’t say things when you’re angry, Zayn.” He hears another voice, this time Liam’s, and turns to look at the other alpha. He hadn’t been prepared to be brought in front of the entire fucking pack house, and his head was spinning. “Your father said no, love. I know how you get when you’re passionate, but he’s said no, and you know that means no.” Zayn shakes his head.

“Knotheads, the both of you! Mum came over here from another pack and she lived out a happy life and he’s not letting Louis go find someone who could very possibly be his true mate because he doesn’t want to let him leave.” Louis feels like he might actually suffocate.

“Stop bringing your mother up, Zayn!” Yaser says, his tone firm. “She’s not here to put her word in, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t try and guilt me into giving you what you want to happen. Let the poor boy go. He’d accepted that I said no, and then you had to go and drag him back in here.” Zayn turns to him, then, finally.

“Louis, go. I want you to leave and here’s _my_ permission to go. Do keep in mind that omega safety is under the jurisdiction of the house Omega, under our pack’s law, and since my mother is dead, that right is passed on to me. I’m granting you the permission to go.” Zayn makes eye contact with his father, then, and Yaser’s mouth has fallen open. “Go, be happy. And should you meet bad fates while you’re there, you’re always welcome back.”

“I –“ Three sets of eyes are on him.

“He’s right.” Liam says, just as shocked as everyone else. “Fucking hell, Zayn. When did you start reading _law books?”_

“When I realized I could have a say if I ever felt like it.” The omega says with a shrug. Louis still feels confused – he doesn’t know who to listen to. His body is screaming at him to listen to the alpha, to take that word and just deal with the fact that his desire had been rejected, but then his mind is telling him to listen to Zayn and follow his heart.

Yaser sighs again, softly. “Alright, Louis. Alright. My son wins. You’re free to go and – as he said, please, please come back if you even _think_ anything bad is going to happen. Call your mother – or Liam – and we’ll have someone there as quickly as possible to help you. Your safety is our priority, bonded to another pack or not.”

“So – I can go?” He says, suddenly happier than he’d been in a while.

“Yes.” The Alpha says with a slight-smile.

“Thank you so much.” He says and Zayn pulls him into a hug.

“Go, enjoy your life. Love freely. I know how it feels to love someone who’s been forbidden.” Liam rolls his eyes.

“Thank you.” He repeats and does the same walk he’d done just a few minutes earlier, but this time he feels alive in a way he could never describe. He feels like the entire world is open for him to do whatever he can with it.

 

He runs home and there are tears streaming down his face and the first thing he does is run into his mother’s arms. “What did he say, love?” She asks and pets his hair.

“He said _yes!_ Mum, I’m going – I’m leaving with Harry!” He’s still crying, but they’re happy tears and his body is practically vibrating with the excitement he feels.

“I’m – happy for you, son.” She says. Louis knows that she’s sad that she’s losing him, that he’s leaving and probably won’t be seeing her much, but it’s okay. They’d already had that discussion. She was happy for him since he was leaving to find his love – and she knows that he’ll be happy there. “Come visit me often, okay? Don’t forget about us here.”

“I would never, mum. I love you so much.” He runs upstairs after that and immediately grabs his phone to call Harry.

It rings three times before the alpha answers. “Hey, love.” His voice says from the other end. He sounds tired and Louis feels bad for a moment until he remembers the good news.

“Did I wake you?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it.”

“Okay. Okay. I have good news!”

“Lay it on me.”

“My pack Alpha said yes. We can – I can go with you. He gave his blessing for us to bond.” The line is quiet for a moment and Louis just listens for a moment. There’s rusting on the other end and then a little _thump_ and Louis giggles a little when he realizes that Harry just dropped his phone. “I’m sorry I put it off for as long as I did. I was really scared of being rejected.” He says after. It feels like something he owes Harry an apology for, considering they’d been engaged for well over three months now.

“No, Lou. Don’t worry about that at all. What matters is we can bond now, yeah? I’m so happy, love. This is great news. When do you – when do you want to come move your stuff in?”

“Whenever you want, Haz. I’m so ready – I’m ready to start our life together.”

“I can swing by tomorrow afternoon and help you pack your things up. Is that too soon?”

“No, I don’t think so. I can spend the rest of the night and tomorrow morning with my family, saying goodbyes and stuff. Tomorrow afternoon sounds fine for me.”

“Alright, love. I’ll see you then, alright?”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He knows he woke Harry up from a nap, even if the Alpha wouldn’t ever admit that, so he lets him go even though they didn’t talk for very long. His entire body is buzzing with the excitement, so he lays down on his bed and tries to calm his breathing. He can’t stop smiling and his cheeks actually hurt a bit from it, but everything felt like it was worth it.

He ran his fingertips over the scars from his failed bonding mark one last time – it was the last time he’d ever have to touch that place and think of terrible things. Soon, he’d be able to touch that little place between his neck and shoulder and think of all of the wonderful memories he had and would continue to make with Harry.

 

Harry comes the next day as promised and Louis tucks the last of his bags into the back of his car. His mum, dad, and sister pull him into a tight hug that he quickly returns, wrapping his arms tightly around his family. “I love you all. Thank you for being so supportive of me. I’ll come visit whenever I can, okay?”

“Alright, love. Call me as much as possible, too, right?”

“Course, mum. See you later.” They all let go and exchange one last happy look as Louis climbs into the passenger side of Harry’s car. His father pulls Harry into a little hug and whispers something into the alpha’s ear that Louis doesn’t pay attention to, but he’s happy.

Harry gets into the driver’s seat and places a hand on his thigh and squeezes reassuringly and that’s all Louis needs. He’s happy, and now he has his entire world ahead of him and waiting for his future to come.

 

It was two weeks later when they finally, finally decided to bond. A late night after a perfect day off for both of them, where they were just able to spend the entire of the day laying in bed together and enjoying each other’s company.

“Can we do it tonight?”

“Bond?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to?”

“I’ve wanted to for moths, Haz. I really, really, want to bond with you.”

“Then yes, of course we can my love.” Louis smiles and Harry kisses him. The alpha places gentle little touches on his thighs and over his stomach and against every inch of skin as it gets exposed. It’s moments like these that Louis loves – loves when Harry is gentle and soft and loving and caring with him. “You’re so beautiful. I’ve said it so many times, I know, but I’ll never quit saying it. Do you know that? Because you’re truly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I could spend every moment of every day looking at you, Lou.”

“You’re so _sappy.”_ Louis says with a laugh. He loves Harry’s smile, and he loves how much he gets to see it. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Haz. Can’t wait to be bonded with you and be closer with you than I’ll ever be with anyone else. Can’t wait to be _yours.”_ That seemed to make the alpha get the hint of what he wanted and he slowly stripped off the remainder of Louis’ clothing and tossed it all to the side. “Do you think we can just – I really – I don’t want to wait anymore.”

“You want me to hurry? I thought you were patient, love.” Harry says with a little laugh and Louis rolls his eyes. If Harry wants to play a dirty card, he can do the same thing.

“I just want to be yours, Alpha. Please, make me yours.” He says and whines. Harry’s pupils grow wider and he growls soft in his throat.

“My naughty little omega, aren’t you?”

“Only for you.” Louis says and sticks his tongue out as two of Harry’s fingers prod at his rim. The pressure is light, just enough to tease him as he rubs the digits around but doesn’t press them inside. “You’re – _teasing._ Haz, please, please. I just want –“

“I know, love. I know. Okay, I’ll give you what you want.” Finally, Harry’s fingers press inside of him. His alpha knows well enough by then to know exactly how to crook his fingers inside of him to find his prostate and does so immediately. He puts pressure and rubs little circles on his sensitive little bundle of nerves until Louis is whining high in his thoat and fisting the sheets below him. He knows how much Harry loves to watch him fall apart, and he loves to give him a show just as much. So. He doesn’t mind. “Look so pretty like this, Lou. You’re so pretty when you’re falling apart on my fingers.” He chooses that moment to press another finger inside and Louis whines louder, moans and pants as all three fingers scissor and stretch him open between strokes against his prostate.

“Haz, please, want your cock.” He whines out shamelessly, grinds himself back on Harry’s fingers. For once, his alpha looks like he’s just as desperate as he is, though, so he’s relieved when he pulls his fingers out of his hole and quickly replaces them with his cock. He moans loudly as his alpha bottoms out and his nails dig into Harry’s biceps.

“My good boy.” The alpha mouths at his neck and sucks a mark there, and Louis knows that’s where he’ll put his mark. The perfect spot right on his neck where his scent is strongest. Harry’s thrusts are quick and fast and _purposeful_ as he chases his orgasm so he can knot Louis. “ _Mine.”_ The alpha growls out one time as he bites softly on the spot he’d been sucking on. “I love you so much, my good boy. My perfect omega.” Louis keens at the praise, lets the feeling wash over him. “Gonna knot you now, kay? Gonna make you mine forever.”

“ _Please.”_ Louis chokes out and finally, Harry’s knot fills all the way and locks him together with his alpha. Then he bites right into that spot on Louis’ shoulder and the omega comes harder than he ever has in his life, a shout coming from the back of his throat as he feels _Harry_ in every corner of his mind.

He falls asleep quickly, and he feels _whole._

 

 

** Future  **

Louis can’t even begin to describe how wonderful his life is. He’s always surrounded by Harry’s family and the happiness that their home is always filled with makes him feel like he belongs in a way he’s never felt before. He can feel _Harry_ though their bond – can feel closer with the alpha than he’s ever felt with anyone – and he’s happy. He’s happy and he thinks that he can’t ever be unhappy. This is his end all because everything, truly, is spectacular. He doesn’t think he could ever ask for anything better than what he has and really, he couldn’t even imagine anything better.

Harry was the alpha of their pack. During the ceremony, Harry had allowed him to walk with him as his mate and the omega of the pack. He was the person that all of the omegas went to with their problems if they were to experience any, just because it could be difficult for some omegas to speak to their Alpha and really be able to communicate effectively.

Other than that, he didn’t work. Harry didn’t forbid him from it, but Louis had found over the last year that the alpha had been right about how much happier and less stressed he felt when he didn’t have to work. He assumed that he’d just gotten used to it before because he hadn’t realized exactly what it was like to be entirely calm.

He was laying on the floor of Harry’s home office at that moment, listening to his alpha make calls and do the things he did every day. He usually got somewhat clingy right before his heat was set to come, so Harry didn’t seem to mind. Normally he’d just go around town and get groceries or do some errands that needed to be done when there was nothing better to do, but today he’d attempted to leave the house and felt like he was going to cry by the time he was two blocks down the street.

Harry had let him sit in his lap for almost an hour until he felt better and then the omega decided it would be better to just lay on the floor and be comfortable in a place where he could be right beside Harry without bothering him.

He wasn’t really listening anyway. Pack business with the alpha was expected to be confidential – even if he was the pack’s omega. So he didn’t really let himself listen. He wound up playing on his phone for most of the day and when Harry eventually came over and carried him over to their bed and fucked him gently to remind him that he was loved – well, Louis wasn’t complaining.

 

Louis missed his heat that month and both he and Harry were a little concerned He hadn’t gone off of his birthcontrol and there hadn’t really been any unwanted stress, but he decided not to think too much of it. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?” Harry asked several times, and this time Louis felt like he was going to cry if he heard Harry ask again. He was still very emotional for some reason.

Which, well, he did. He cried when Harry asked for the fifth time in that week and he just – he just started _sobbing._ He couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually cried this hard and it didn’t feel right. Maybe there was something wrong. “I don’t know. Maybe. I feel weird.” He said with a sniffle and Harry was immediately holding him, rubbing comforting circles on his back. Louis felt a bit better, but he still felt like he was tired – tired and emotionally drained.

“Lou, love. I think we should take you to the doctors, yeah? I’m concerned and I think something might be wrong, but it would be good to hear from a professional that I’m just making it up, yeah?”

“Alright. That sounds okay.” Harry nodded and kissed the side of his head again.

“I think we should spend a day in, though. Just the two of us, yeah? I think it’s been too long since we’ve had a do-nothing day just for us.”

“Me too. Carry me to bed?” He said with a smile and Harry obliged. His legs were kind of crampy, too, so maybe there really was something wrong. He didn’t want anything to be wrong at all, but it was terrifying to think that there _could be._ So he didn’t think about it. When Harry got off the phone with the doctor and got an appointment scheduled for the next day, Louis didn’t think about it again. He just let Harry hold him and cuddled with his alpha until he fell asleep.

 

“Alright, Alpha and omega Styles, I have your results.” The doctor said, coming back into the room and smiling softly. “You’re pregnant, Omega Louis.” Louis blinked a few times and looked over to Harry with a shocked look.

“That’s not possible. I’ve taken my birth control every single day without fail since I was fifteen.”

“What brand?”

“Um, I don’t know. Just – whatever is on my prescription. I’ve never missed a single day, though!” The doctor made a strange noise and went to his computer and typed a few things in, and then a look of understanding crossed his face which only made Louis feel angry. Harry still seemed shocked, and he hadn’t said anything yet, but Louis just – he couldn’t imagine what could have happened to get him pregnant!

“Well, it appears that the last time you refilled your pills was about six months ago, right?”

“Right.” Louis said, quirking an eyebrow.

“Well, the expiration date for omegoxin is four months. The six month sets were discontinued about three years ago, and I’m not sure why your pharmacist gave you a six month set, but since you’ve been taking expired birth control for the last two months, the reality of your pregnancy is quite high.” The doctor said and Harry coughed.

“We’re going to be fathers?” The alpha asked happily. Louis was happy – of course he was – but he was just shocked and confused. He’d always thought he’d have a child that was planned and expected and thought out – but it didn’t matter. His heart swelled with the care that he would have for this child one day and he placed a hand on his stomach.

“We’re going to have to run a few more tests just to be certain, but yes. As of right now, it appears that yes, you will be fathers. Congratulations, Alpha.” The doctor said with a polite nod. “We’ll just draw a bit of blood from you, Omega Louis, and then we’ll have our certain results within the hour for you, alright?”

“Alright.” Louis said with a polite smile. The doctor left and he turned to Harry with an amazed look on his face. “I didn’t even realize how much I wanted pups until right now. Haz, we’re gonna be dads!” He said and his eyes filled with tears once again. He was amazed. He and Harry created _life!_

Eventually, a nurse came in and took some blood from his arm, and then they were alone again. They talked for a while about what a baby meant to both of them and how much they were excited and that it would be okay whether the results were false positive or not – but the end conclusion came to be that they were ready. Louis was twenty one and Harry was twenty six, so maybe they were a little young, but that didn’t mean they weren’t ready for the future.

When the doctor came back and confirmed that they were in fact going to be fathers and Louis was about two months along, well, he was through the roof.

 

In his fourth month, though, the morning sickness started. His mum had said the same thing had happened to her – delayed morning sickness until the fourth month – but he hadn’t realized how bad it was going to be. He also didn’t understand why the hell they called it _morning_ sickness, when it was really _all the time_ sickness.

But Harry was there with him, holding his hand and cuddling him until he felt better after each miserable time he’d throw up. So, Louis wasn’t complaining _too_ much.

 

When the sixth month rolls around, they decide they want to know the sex of the baby. At first, neither of them had wanted to know because they wanted it to be a surprise, so they hadn’t asked during any of Louis’ ultra sound appointments. But this one, they wanted to know. So, seeing their little baby and hearing it’s little heart beat, it was inevitable that Louis finally asked.

“What’s the sex?” He asked and the doctor smiled.

“Are you sure you want to know? I thought you decided you didn’t.”

“We changed our minds.”

“You’re having a girl.” The doctor said and Louis grinned. A little girl. He was going to have a little girl of his own to spoil and love. He could imagine Harry being the best dad and playing with her and he could already see them going to all of her school performances and being the best parents they could be to her.

“A girl.” He repeated, as if he was still unsure that all of this was real. Harry had a few tears in his eyes, too, and Louis knew he’d deny that later, but when the alpha put snippets of their little girl’s pictures in his wallet, well, he knew that Harry loved her just as much as he did already.

 

“ _God I want her out of me!”_ Louis shouted from the floor of their livingroom. He was nine months and two weeks in, and their little princess had decided she still wasn’t entirely ready. The doctor said that was fine and healthy and normal, but Louis was miserable. He was as big as a whale and walking anywhere hurt and his back always ached and his nipples were sore and he was just ready to give birth already.

“She’ll come when she’s ready, love.” Harry said again, the same thing he’d been saying for the last three weeks, and continued rubbing his hand around his belly. Harry had been much more touchy with his belly ever since he’d started showing. Even before that, really, but when he’d really started showing in his sixth month, Harry almost always had a hand on him. He’d sing to their little girl every night before they slept and tell her stories and Louis would always listen with a strong fondness for his two favorite people in his chest, but he still just wanted to _hold_ his daughter. He was ready to finally, _finally_ have her and be able to hold and kiss her for real.

Plus he was ready to be able to walk around a bit more, too. Walking became the hardest chore in the world at this point. He really wasn’t _that_ big – since this was his first pregnancy and he’d been told that it was fine if he didn’t show all that much – but his ankles were still swollen and even moving made his back hurt.

“You can come out any time now, princess.” Harry spoke to his stomach softly. “Your daddy and I are waiting to be able to hold you and see you for real.” Louis smiled.

“Hopefully she listens.” She chose that moment to kick – as if saying _fuck you dad, I’m not ready_ and Louis cried again.

 

Three days later, he was holding little baby Anna after his C-Section and he was so, so happy. She was the prettiest baby he’d ever seen – with Harry’s bright green eyes and his own nose and cute, chubby little cheeks that made him want to smile all the time. “Hi, Anna.” He said softly and Harry let the little baby grab onto his finger.

His family was out in the waiting room after fighting their way over here to see the baby after she’d just been born, and Louis was so happy.

 

He kept a little baby book of each of Anna’s little milestones. Her first tooth, her first steps, her first word, her first haircut, her first day of school. Everything. He took more pictures than necessary, but he knew that one day he’d be more than happy that he did. Every moment was precious and he didn’t want to waste a single one.

 

“ _Papa! Daddy!”_ A little voice yelled from her room and Harry was the first up and darting over to her room, Louis right on his heels. She was sat up in bed, tears in her eyes and hair disheveled.

“Did you have a bad dream, sweet heart?” Harry asked and the both of them sat with her on the bed. She just nodded and Louis cooed and kissed the side of her head.

“Do you want to come and sleep with us?” She nodded again and Louis picked her up and carried her to their room.

 

He had their second and final child, a boy, two months before Anna’s eighth birthday, and he was, truly, the happiest omega alive.

With their children in his arms and his alpha beside him, well, Louis was certain that he was the happiest omega alive.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading – and if you _really_ enjoyed this story and want to support your local fanfic author, you can [buy me a cup of coffee!](http://ko-fi.com/A237HRB%20)
> 
> as always, feel free to find me on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/alex_4968) or tumblr [here](http://futurxhearts.tumblr.com/)
> 
> PS: how do you get into one of those fic exchange things? I've seen them everywhere and I want to do one!! Someone find me one and I'll be eternally grateful :)


End file.
